pragmatic markers
Conversational navigation words
Pragmatic markers are words or phrases that organize conversation and signal the speaker's attitude rather than contribute to literal meaning.
They include discourse markers like well, so, and you know, which manage turn-taking and signal transitions.
Pragmatic markers also encompass hedges like I think or kind of, which soften assertions, and emphatics like literally or honestly, which strengthen them.
Though often dismissed as filler, they're essential to natural speech.
- discourseFormal communication on subjects
- hedgesPlanted boundary lines
- fillerSubstance closing gaps
- wellDug water source
- actuallyIn truth, not supposedly
you know · you see · I mean · I guess · like · so · the thing is · anyway · as I was saying · in other words · hesitation · softeners · interjection · pause · conversation · spoken · informal · utterance
- pragmaticspresupposition, context, inference, locution, relevance
- endangered languagesendangered language, extinct language, language preservation, language revival, indigenous languages
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