Uses of the Discourse Marker Wallahi in Jordanian Spoken Arabic: A Pragma-Discourse Perspective
Asim Al-Khawaldeh

Abstract
The present study aims at examining and describing the uses of the discourse marker “wallahi” in Jordanian spoken Arabic. To meet the purpose of the study, a corpus of 8 hours of spoken discourse has been collected, including face-to –face as well as cell phones conversations. The study employs 26 participants, varied in gender, age, education, and job. Due to the fact that it is massively frequent in Jordanian Arabic, this DM has been chosen foran in-depth functional study. The nature of the study is exploratory and functional, attempting to provide a corpus –based description and analysis. As a qualitative research, an eclectic analytical method is employed as a theoretical framework to account for the functions of the discourse marker wallahi. In addition, it relies on utilizing direct observation technique for analyzing the DM wallahi in the corpus under investigation. The results of the study show that the DM wallahi is multifunctional, serving ten functions in the present corpus: to introduce an acceptance, an apology, a threat,and a compliment, and to serve as a request softener, a marker of elaboration, a continuer, a marker of confirmation, a marker of complying with a request, and a filler marker.

Full Text: PDF