Discourse marks as a component of dialect speech

Authors

  • Nataliia VERBYCH, PhD (Philol.), Senior Researcher Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine image/svg+xml

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17721/um/56(2026).24-40

Keywords:

discursive units, discursive marker, oral narrative, dialect text

Abstract

Background. Most modern dialectological studies focus on traditional descriptions of different levels of language. However, no less relevant are communicative and pragmatic approaches to the analysis of dialect text, which reflect the processes of emergence and implementation of oral speech. One of the components of dialect narrative is discursive markers. Such units of oral speech have not yet been the object of dialectological research.

Methods. The present research employs general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as descriptive, component, discourse analysis techniques, etc.

Results. The article clarifies the emergence of the concept of “discursive marker” in foreign and Ukrainian linguistic practice. The change in views on such elements of discourse is described (from their perception as destructive elements of the text to the understanding of their communicative and pragmatic potential). The role and functions of discursive markers in dialect speech are demonstrated. It is established that they are an important component of dialect narration, associated with its syntactic, semantic, communicative and pragmatic functional aspects. It is shown that the perception of such units during direct communication with a dialect speaker differs from their perception during reading and analyzing dialect stories from collections of dialect texts.

Conclusions. The functional load of discursive markers in dialect narration has been established. The main function of such speech elements is structuring, they also perform other functions – indicative, anaphoric, allocative, reinforcing, phatic, expressive and evaluative, regulatory, programming, etc. A promising task for dialect studies is to establish a list of general language discursive markers, as well as to identify typical units for a particular dialect. This will clarify the understanding of the structural features of dialect narration and will supplement the composition of differential units of different dialects. The need to reflect such units of speech in lexicographic works requires a separate analysis.

Information about the author:

Nataliia Verbych – PhD in Philology, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Dialectology at the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

E-mail: nataljaverbich@ukr.net

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3373-6332

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Published

2026-05-28

How to Cite

Verbych, N. (2026). Discourse marks as a component of dialect speech. Ukrainian Linguistics, 1(56), 24-40. https://doi.org/10.17721/um/56(2026).24-40