Newsmarks as an Interactional Resource for Indexing Remarkability: A Qualitative Analysis of Arabic waḷḷāhi and English really

Michal Marmorstein; Beatrice Szczepek Reed

doi:10.1163/26660393-bja10091

Newsmarks as an Interactional Resource for Indexing Remarkability: A Qualitative Analysis of Arabic waḷḷāhi and English really

Michal Marmorstein, Beatrice Szczepek Reed

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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4 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

This paper presents a study of Arabic waḷḷāhi (lit. ‘by God’) and English really when they are used interactionally as newsmarks. The literature has claimed that the role of newsmarks in conversation is to treat prior talk as news, to open up a slot for further talk, to express doubt or disbelief, and to implement requests for confirmation. A close analysis of waḷḷāhi and really shows that they do not necessarily follow the patterns described by previous research. Instead, the data suggest that newsmarks primarily contribute to the construction of prior talk as remarkable, that is, tellable and noteworthy; and that some previously described functions are epiphenomenal of this more basic property. The data are recordings of naturally occurring everyday conversations in British English and Egyptian Arabic, with English translations.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	238-273
Journal	Contrastive Pragmatics
Volume	5
Early online date	13 Jul 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1163/26660393-bja10091
Publication status	Published - May 2024

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Newsmarks as an Interactional Resource_MARMORSTEIN_2024_GOLD VoR (CC BY)Final published version, 749 KBLicence: CC BY

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abstract = "This paper presents a study of Arabic waḷḷāhi (lit. {\textquoteleft}by God{\textquoteright}) and English really when they are used interactionally as newsmarks. The literature has claimed that the role of newsmarks in conversation is to treat prior talk as news, to open up a slot for further talk, to express doubt or disbelief, and to implement requests for confirmation. A close analysis of waḷḷāhi and really shows that they do not necessarily follow the patterns described by previous research. Instead, the data suggest that newsmarks primarily contribute to the construction of prior talk as remarkable, that is, tellable and noteworthy; and that some previously described functions are epiphenomenal of this more basic property. The data are recordings of naturally occurring everyday conversations in British English and Egyptian Arabic, with English translations.",

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Newsmarks as an Interactional Resource for Indexing Remarkability: A Qualitative Analysis of Arabic waḷḷāhi and English really

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