Comparison of the discourse marker “well” with its equivalents in "Gone with the wind" and the translation of "Cuốn theo chiều gió"

Abstract

Along with the development of pragmatics and discourse analysis, it can be said that there are many approaches to discourse markers. The use of discourse markers in spoken discourse to distinguish it from written discourse has become a popular topic among researchers. Discourse markers play a very important role in language, especially in conversation. In addition to the linking function, the discourse markers convey many different meanings in the different contexts in which it is used. Within the scope of this article, an overview of the acting factor and a specific analysis of the discourse marker “well” will be presented. Since then, the article compares this discourse marker through the dialogues of the characters in the very famous novel Gone with the wind by Margaret Mitchell and the translation of Cuốn theo chiều gió by Duong Tuong. Moreover, by analyzing the context in which the discourse marker “well” is used, it is found that one of the functions of the discourse markers is to supplement the information in the conversation between English and Vietnamese.