The expression of interpersonal and textual functions in Czech and in English: The Czech postfix -pak and its translation counterparts

Authors

  • Denisa Šebestová
  • Markéta Malá

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/bells.v9i1.1526

Keywords:

postfix -pak, interpersonal functions, textual functions, parallel corpus, Czech/English

Abstract

The study explores the possibility to use translation counterparts as “markers” (Malá, 2013), or “methodological anchors” (Gast, 2015), of discourse functions, i.e. formal correlates of interpersonal and textual functions, which make it possible to detect these functions in the text, and to compare their expression cross-linguistically. We focus on Czech expressions containing the postfix -pak (such as, copak – ‘what + pak’, kdepak – ‘where + pak’). The postfix -pak is shown to be a polyfunctional indicator of discourse function (cf. Grepl and Karlík, 1998). The expressions ending in -pak were found to have content / speaker-related functions (such as deliberative meaning, emotional evaluation, (im)possibility) as well as communication / addressee-oriented functions (appeal, establishing/maintaining contact) (cf. Aijmer, 2013; Šebestová and Malá, 2016).

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Published

2018-04-26

How to Cite

Šebestová, Denisa, and Markéta Malá. 2018. “The Expression of Interpersonal and Textual Functions in Czech and in English: The Czech Postfix -Pak and Its Translation Counterparts”. Bergen Language and Linguistics Studies 9 (1). https://doi.org/10.15845/bells.v9i1.1526.