The communicative-pragmatic potential of discourse markers in the short stories of Hryhir Tiutiunnyk

Abstract

Background. Modern linguistic research is focused on the communicative and pragmatic aspects of studying linguistic units. Scholars interpret a text not merely as a medium for conveying meaning but as a means of influence and a tool for realising the author’s intentions. This approach explains the increased attention of linguists to discourse markers – elements of discourse that, on the one hand, structure it by ensuring coherence and cohesion, and on the other hand, reflect the speaker's true communicative and pragmatic intentions.

Methods. The present research employs general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, which were used to divide the literary discourse into constituent parts, to describe each of them, and to examine the analysed context as a whole. The method of discourse analysis was applied to identify the roles of the addressee and the addresser, as well as the circumstances of their interaction within the literary discourse. The method of linguistic description was used to characterise the communicative and pragmatic features of the analysed discourse units.

Results. The analysis of discourse markers in the short stories of Hryhir Tiutiunnyk has revealed their significant role in shaping the communicative and pragmatic dimensions of literary texts. Discourse units can introduce evaluative commentary, draw the reader’s attention to the author’s internal or external description of a character, emphasise the character’s role in the compositional structure of the text. Discourse markers serve a significant function in presenting various supplementary descriptions related to the overall content of the texts.

Conclusions. Research on Hryhorii Tiutiunnyk’s short prose reveals that discourse markers in the writer’s works are capable of introducing multifaceted additional information within the authorial voice (regarding the characterisation of a character, their actions and behavior, event descriptions, etc.). Significantly less frequent, in comparison to the authorial voice, is the use of discourse units in the speech of characters, particularly in dialogues or the characters’ internal monologues. Special attention should be paid to instances where a character’s internal monologue transforms into extended authorial narration, or vice versa: a discourse marker functions as a cohesive element that enables a smooth transition from the author’s narrative to the character’s internal monologic speech.

Інформація про автора:

Грабова Анна Романівна – аспірантка кафедри української мови та прикладної лінгвістики Навчально-наукового інституту філології Київського національного університету імені Тараса Шевченка

Електронна адреса: annagrabova@knu.ua