Analysis of the Discourse Marker Well through the Use of Speech Act Verbs

Analysis of the Discourse Marker Well through the Use of Speech Act Verbs

This paper aims to explore the illocutionary forces conveyed by the discourse marker well in English by focusing on speech act verbs that are crucial for understanding performative utterances. To achieve this goal, a new taxonomy of speech act verbs is proposed, which involves analyzing the illocutionary forces of well using the commonly used speech act verbs classified by Bach and Harnish (1979). The new taxonomy has been utilized to analyze the illocutionary forces of the discourse marker well as uttered by speakers. The study revealed that the discourse marker well conveys illocutionary forces through nine types of speech act verbs. These verbs are used by speakers to convey their intention within the specific context of their utterance.