Discourse marker Like across the varieties of English in South and Southeast Asia A comparative corpus-based study

Details

Supervisors

Gilquin, Gaëtanelle

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en linguistique, à finalité spécialisée: Linguistics and its Applications for a Multilingual Society

Abstract

The present study has drawn upon the face-to-face, private section of the ICE corpora to investigate the use of the discourse marker like across the four varieties of English in South and Southeast Asia, namely Hong Kong English, Indian English, Singapore English and Philippine English. The findings indicate that the four varieties of English tend to utilise like more frequently for non-pragmatic functions, rather than employing it as a discourse marker. The frequency of use of the discourse marker like varies across the four varieties of English. Philippine English displays the highest frequency of use, while Hong Kong English exhibits the lowest frequency. Additionally, these four varieties of English demonstrate a preference for situating the discourse marker like in a clause-final position, as opposed to a clause-initial position. Moreover, all four varieties of English employ the linkage function of the discourse marker like with the greatest frequency. It is also noteworthy that these four varieties demonstrate disparate usage patterns with regard to the positional and functional distribution of the discourse marker like from a qualitative perspective.