Discourse Markers, Where Are You? Investigating the Relationship between Their Functions and Their Position in French Belgian Sign Language Conversations

Abstract:This article studies the position of two discourse markers, namely palm-up and same, and the existence of a possible functional paradigm in French Belgian Sign Language. The position is investigated at three different levels: the clause, the basic discourse unit, and the turn. The positions in which palm-up can appear in the basic discourse unit and the turn are more varied than the positions in which same can be found. Most functions of the two discourse markers predominantly appear in a particular position, whereas other functions have a great deal of variation. Most subjective meanings (i.e., related to the signer) expressed by the two discourse markers appear in left peripheral positions, but intersubjective meanings (i.e., related to the addressee) are not restricted to right peripheral positions. The two discourse markers in this position will predominantly occur with a directed gaze towards the addressee, but those in the left periphery occur with either an addressed or a nonaddressed eye gaze.