Author(s)

Li Wen ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of English Studies, Xi'an International Studies University, Xi'an, China

Corresponding Author

Li Wen

ABSTRACT

Discourse markers play an important role in daily communication and help to guide interlocutors to achieve optimal relevance when interpreting utterances. Academic research on discourse markers mainly focuses on coherence theory, syntactic-pragmatic theory, and relevance theory, paying attention to their meaning, function, and classification. However, few researches have studied on you know as a discourse marker. Therefore, this paper, based on relevance theory, intends to analyze the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker you know in the American TV drama The Big Bang Theory (Season 5). Findings show that you know can be used as a marker to supervise turn-shifting, further-elaborate, remind, mitigate face-threatening act and show hesitation, thus ensuring the smooth progress of communication. Findings of these functions are significant to help people express their intentions more clearly in interpersonal communication as well as to the studies of pragmatics from the perspective of relevance theory. 

KEYWORDS

Discourse marker; you know; relevance theory; pragmatic function; The Big Bang Theory

CITE THIS PAPER

Li Wen, A Study on the Pragmatic Functions of Discourse Marker You Know in The Big Bang Theory. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2024) Vol. 7: 152-158. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2024.070322.

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