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Article published In:
Vagueness and Elasticity of 'Sort of' in TV Discussion Discourse in the Asian Pacific
Edited by Vahid Parvaresh and Grace Zhang
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 29:1] 2019
► pp. 33–61

On the functions of sort of in New Zealand TV programs

| Curtin University, Australia

Sort of is a pragmatic particle with a range of functions in different contexts. There are different factors which can contribute to its varied functions. Focusing on the media discourse, this study investigates the frequency and pragmatic functions of sort of in New Zealand English. Based on the analysis of the data from a current affairs TV program, the study shows that sort of is a pragmatic particle under-used in this discourse type. The analysis of its pragmatic functions demonstrates that right amount of information and mitigation fulfill a substantial proportion of sort of functions. The other two functions, avoidance and discourse management, are less frequent, but still perform important roles in effective media communication.

Keywords: sort of , kind of , pragmatic particles, discourse particles, vague language, discourse markers
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Pragmatic particles: Previous research
  • 2. Sort of: Background studies
    • 2.1 Sort of history
    • 2.2 Sort of prosodic features
    • 2.3 Sort of semantics
    • 2.4 Sort of functions
      • 2.4.1Overview of taxonomies of sort of functions
      • 2.4.2 Sort of pragmatic functions
    • 2.5 Sort of collocations
    • 2.6 Sort of in different contexts
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Data
    • 3.2Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Overall frequency
    • 4.2Pragmatic functions
      • 4.2.1Right amount of information
      • 4.2.2Mitigation
      • 4.2.3Avoidance
      • 4.2.4Discourse management
    • 4.3Collocations
  • 5.General discussions
  • 6.Conclusions and implications
  • References
Published online: 16 May 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00020.sab
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