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Themes and Tails: The Discourse Functions of Dislocated Elements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2008

Karin Aijmer
Karin Aijmer
Affiliation:
English Department, Lund University, Helgonabacken 14, 223 62 Lund, Sweden.
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Abstract

The article deals with Themes (the function associated with left-dislocated structures) and Tails (the function associated with right-dislocated structures) in English conversation. The noun phrase is placed as Theme in “our maths chap he is an Indian” and as Tail in “they very often are these Eastern Europeans”. It is shown that Themes and Tails are functionally different phenomena. Themes are explained interactionally in terms of the negotiation of information which takes place between speaker and hearer, while Tails are associated with the interpersonal or polite function of speech.

Type
Research Article
Information
Nordic Journal of Linguistics , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , December 1989 , pp. 137 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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