Discourse markers in a dualistic view of grammar

A talk with Gunther Kaltenböck, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz

This talk discusses discourse markers from the perspective of Discourse Grammar (e.g. Kaltenböck et al. 2011, Heine et al. 2021), a grammatical framework that assumes a dualistic organization in terms of sentence grammar and thetical grammar, with discourse markers belonging to the latter. After a brief outline of the framework and its neurological correlates, the focus will be on the diachronic development of discourse markers, which is particularly interesting as they exhibit a number of characteristics that are hard to reconcile with a process of grammaticalization. It is argued that a grammaticalization account can, however, be salvaged if combined with the concept of ‘cooptation’. The diachronic mechanisms at work are then illustrated with the help of recently emerging discourse markers in English, viz. just so you know and (it) just so happens, which show different degrees of conventionalization (Kaltenböck & ten Wolde 2025).

• Heine, Bernd, Gunther Kaltenböck, Tania Kuteva & Haiping Long 2021. The rise of discourse markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Kaltenböck, Gunther, Bernd Heine & Tania Kuteva. 2011. On thetical grammar. Studies in Language 35(4): 848-893.
• Kaltenböck, Gunther & Elnora ten Wolde. 2025. New discourse markers in the making: Just so you know and just so happens. Functions of Language 31(3): 74–104.

Bio

Gunther Kaltenböck is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Graz in Austria. His research interests lie in the areas of cognitive-functional grammar, syntactic variation and change, corpus linguistics, and pragmatics. Apart from numerous book chapters and contributions to international journals, his publications include monographs on It-extraposition and non-extraposition in English (2004, Braumüller) and The rise of discourse markers (2021, Cambridge, with Bernd Heine, Tania Kuteva, Haiping Long) and several co-edited volumes and special journal issues, viz.

New approaches to hedging (2011, Emerald), Outside the clause (2016, Benjamins), Insubordination: theoretical and empirical issues (2019, De Gruyter), Grammar and cognition: Dualistic models of language structure and language processing (2020, Benjamins), Investigating stance in English: Synchrony and diachrony (2020, Language Sciences), Construction and reconstruction (2024, English Language and Linguistics), and Language in social interaction (2026, De Gruyter Mouton).