General Extenders: The Forms and Functions of a New Linguistic Category

by Maryann Overstreet, George Yule

Overview

General extenders are phrases like 'or something', 'and everything', 'and things (like that)', 'and stuff (like that)', and 'and so on'. Although they are an everyday feature of spoken language, are crucial in successful interpersonal communication, and have multiple functions in discourse, they have so far gone virtually unnoticed in linguistics. This pioneering work provides a comprehensive description of this new linguistic category. It offers new insights into ongoing changes in contemporary English, the effect of grammaticalization, novel uses as associative plural markers and indicators of intertextuality, and the metapragmatic role of extenders in interaction. The forms and functions of general extenders are presented clearly and accessibly, enabling students to understand a number of different frameworks of analysis in discourse-pragmatic studies. From an applied perspective, the book presents a description of translation equivalents, an analysis of second language variation, and practical exercises for teaching second language learners of English.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108940450
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/10/2025
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.53(d)

About the Author

Maryann Overstreet is Professor of German at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Her research focuses on discourse and pragmatics. Her publications include Whales, Candlelight and Stuff Like That: General Extenders in English Discourse (1999) and The Routledge Modern German Reader (2016).

George Yule has taught Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Hawai'i, the University of Minnesota and Louisiana State University. His publications include The Study of Language (2020), Discourse Analysis (with G. Brown, 1983) and (with M. Overstreet) Puzzlings (2017).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Referential Function and Categorization; 3. Interpersonal Function and Intersubjectivity; 4. Personal Function and Subjectivity; 5. Textual Function and Turn Construction; 6. Historical Development and Change; 7. Social Marking and Variation; 8. In Different Languages; 9. In Learner Language and Language Teaching; 10. Reflections and Projections.