SOCIOLINGUISTICS SYMPOSIUM 16 - SIOMPÓISIAM SOCHTHEANGEOLAÍOCHTA 16 UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK - OLLSCOIL LUIMNIGH 6 - 8 JULY / IÚIL 2006 Arrah, like, you know: The dynamics of discourse marking in ICE-Ireland Jeffrey Kallen CLCS Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2 Ireland jkallen@tcd.ie Discourse marking in Irish English: the historical background For over 400 years, dramatists, novelists, and other writers seeking to depict Irish characters have relied in part on words and phrases taken to be indexical of Irishness when representing the conversational functions now associated with the term 'discourse marker'. In keeping with the general trend in the lexical development of Irish English, many of the terms which are commonly cited are etymologically derived from Irish and carry over similar discourse functions. These terms include introductory particles as in (1) Arra vat shall ve do full quickly and soon ('The Irishmen's Prayers', 1689) (2) 'Bud, musha, what's the harm o' that', he said to himself (Banim 1838) (3) 'Oh, wurrah, no,' said both, 'don't mention that' (Carleton 1843) and vocatives as in (4) 'Well, thin, an' I won't avich' (Banim 1838) (5) " 'Oh! by this and by that, mother', says Jack, 'what did you waken me for?' " 'Jack a-vourneen', says the mother 'sure and you war lying grunting, and groaning ... and I only nudged you for fraid you war in pain' (Carleton 1843). (6) " 'Well, acushla,' says he, 'you've a purty and an innocent-looking face; but I'm tould there's many a trap in London well baited'. (Carleton 1843). More subtle is the utterance-final particle moryah, which could be translated to 'as it were' in English, but which has no ready equivalent in most varieties of English. It is used to suggest the speaker's non-endorsement of the truth of the proposition to which moryah is attached, as in Joyce's (1910) illustration in (7) or the modern example in (8). (7) A notorious schemer and cheat puts on airs of piety in the chapel and thumps his breast in great style; and a spectator says: — Oh how pious and holy Joe is growing — mar-yah! (8) "He was helping her with her homework mar dhea " (Kallen 1997, example from Cork)