%0 Journal Article
%T Free-Standing Interjections as Turn-Initial Pragmatic Markers¡ªExamples from American Sitcom <i>The Big Bang Theory</i>
%A Anmin Mao
%J Open Access Library Journal
%V 4
%N 8
%P 1-11
%@ 2333-9721
%D 2017
%I Open Access Library
%R 10.4236/oalib.1103809
%X <div style="text-align:justify;">
	<span style="line-height:1.5;">Interjections in everyday conversations routinely function
as pragmatic markers, especially when they are used to initiate utterances. In
turn-initial position, the overall incidence of interjections is higher than
non-interjectional pragmatic markers, as shown in the data from an American sitcom </span><i style="line-height:1.5;">The Big Bang Theory</i><span style="line-height:1.5;">. In the light of
Fraser¡¯s ¡°grammatical-pragmatic¡± approach to pragmatic markers, free-standing
interjections are specifically discussed in the paper. Some instances of such
¡°independent¡± interjections accord with what Fraser has defined as ¡°basic
markers¡±, while others not. Also, it is found in the data that some
interjections of this kind can serve as ¡°parallel markers¡±, or rather ¡°vocative
markers¡± and ¡°speaker displeasure markers¡±. Moreover, considering the large
percentage that utterance-followed interjec</span><span style="line-height:1.5;">tions account for in the frequency
calculation of turn-initial interjections, it is believed that this type of
¡°dependent¡± (</span><i style="line-height:1.5;">i.e.</i><span style="line-height:1.5;"> not free-standing)
interjections is also worthy of research, though has not been covered in detail
in this paper.</span>
</div>
%K Interjections
%K Pragmatic Markers
%K Turn-Initial Position
%K <i>The Big Bang Theory</i>
%U http://www.oalib.com/paper/5288151