Chapter published in:
Voices Past and Present - Studies of Involved, Speech-related and Spoken Texts: In honor of Merja Kytö
Edited by Ewa Jonsson and Tove Larsson
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 97] 2020
► pp. 265–282

Chapter 16
From yes to innit

Origin, development and general characteristics of pragmatic markers

| University of Bergen
The form innit (from isn’t it) is used as a pragmatic marker in the same way as yes, yeah and okay by London teenagers. This chapter discusses how this usage has developed by comparing The Bergen Corpus of London Teenage Language (COLT) with the more recent Multicultural London English Corpus (MLE). It includes a comparison with the use of the markers by adults in the spoken part of the British National Corpus (here ‘BNC Old’, for convenience), and the more recent BNC2014. The comparison gives an indication of how the use of the markers has developed, for instance that okay may or may not out-manoeuver yes and yeah, while innit has become an established marker.
Keywords: corpora, teenage talk, pragmatic markers
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The markers
    • 1.2Outline
  • 2.Materials and methods
    • 2.1The corpora
    • 2.2Methods
  • 3.Origin, development and general characteristics of the markers
    • 3.1 Yes and yeah
    • 3.2 Okay
    • 3.3 Innit
  • 4.Position and function
    • 4.1Factors contributing to the functions of the markers
    • 4.2Illustrations
      • 4.2.1Functions in initial position
      • 4.2.2Functions in medial position
      • 4.2.3Function in final position
      • 4.2.4Functions in stand-alone position
    • 4.3Positions and functions in COLT
    • 4.4Summing up
      • 4.4.1Functions
      • 4.4.2Structures
  • 5.The distribution of the markers in the corpora
    • 5.1Distribution across genders in COLT
    • 5.2Distribution across socioeconomic classes in COLT
    • 5.3Distribution across London boroughs in COLT
    • 5.4Frequencies compared: BNC Old, COLT, MLE and BNC2014
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 05 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.97.16ste
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