Browsing by Author "Furkó Bálint Péter"

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    Exploring the Fuzzy Boundaries of Discourse Markers Through Manual and Automatic Annotation
    (Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 2020) Furkó Bálint Péter
    Discourse markers are non-propositional linguistic items that are notoriously difficult to identify as well as to categorize. We can observe several borderline phenomena and overlaps with other formal and functional categories, for example inserts, adverbials, contextualization cues, pragmatic force modifiers and so on. By way of addressing such overlaps as well as the disambiguation between discourse marker uses and their source categories, the chapter presents a comparison of automated and manual annotation of oral discourse markers (discourse markers). Firstly, an overview of the criterial features of discourse markers that are relevant to disambiguation is presented. Secondly, the UCREL Semantic Analysis System (USAS) and its disambiguation methods are briefly discussed. In the third part of the chapter manual and automatic decisions about categorization are compared with a view to addressing the margin of error reported to apply in general semantic annotation as well as the question of what formal-functional properties of the relevant discourse markers might explain possible differences between manual and automatic annotation.
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    From mediatized political discourse to The Hobbit: The role of pragmatic markers in the construction of dialogues, stereotypes and literary style
    (2015) Furkó Bálint Péter
    The present paper argues that the analysis of the functional spectrum of pragmatic markers (PMs) serves as a heuristic tool for studying the interactional dynamics of dialogues in a variety of genres and discourse types, whether naturally-occurring, scripted or literary. By way of arguing my point I will discuss the results of three of my previous case studies aimed at exploring the role of PMs. The case studies, by virtue of the types of discourse they are based on (mediatised political interviews, dramatised/televised conversations and literary texts) reveal different patterns of dialogicity, and complement the analyses of spontaneous everyday conversations, the type of data most of the current PM research draws on. In the course of my analyses I also hope to illustrate that the cross-fertilization between dialogue analysis, PM research and literary pragmatics has a lot to offer to all three disciplines.
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    Manipulative uses of pragmatic markers in political discourse
    (2017-06) Furkó Bálint Péter
    Pragmatic markers comprise a functional class of linguistic items that do not typically change the propositional meaning of an utterance but are essential for the organization and structuring of discourse, for marking the speaker’s attitudes to the proposition being expressed as well as for facilitating processes of pragmatic inferences. Pragmatic marker research has been characterised by descriptive approaches: even case studies that take their data from political discourse tend to focus on linguistic patterns of co-occurrence and sequentiality rather than social-institutional norms or broader societal concerns. The novelty of this article is, therefore, in linking pragmatic marker research, a primarily discourse analytical, language-oriented field to the broader field of Discourse Studies with a focus on manipulative social practices and their manifestations in discursive strategies. This article analyses evidential markers, general extenders, quotation markers and markers of (un)certainty1 in political interviews broadcasted by the BBC, CNN and Hungarian ATV. After a short overview of the formal and functional characteristics of pragmatic markers and their relevance to Discourse Studies in general and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) research in particular, characteristics of the political interview as political discourse, institutional discourse and media(tised) discourse are discussed. In the second part, the results of previous (primarily descriptive and genre analytical) research are reconsidered from the perspective of CDA and particular pragmatic markers are associated with manifestations of manipulative intent, such as suppression, polarization, recontextualising, conversationalisation and intended ambiguity. An important finding of this study is that a single pragmatic marker can serve several manipulative functions, while a given manipulative strategy is potentially realized by a variety of pragmatic items. Potential manipulative uses are exemplified with a view to applying the heuristic to the analysis of representations of particular political events and happenings, which is a direction for further research.
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    The pragmatic marker - discourse marker dichotomy reconsidered - the case of 'well' and 'of course'
    (Debreceni Egyetemi Kiadó (2007), 2005) Furkó Bálint Péter