Discourse coherence and intersubjectivity: The development of final but in dialogues

All the studies on final particles in non-Asian languages systematically propose a synchronic view of the constructions under consideration. This paper closes the gap by offering a diachronic analysis of final but in dialogues in a corpus of Northern English over a sixty-year period. Relying on Schiffrin's (1987) planes of discourse and Hasselgård's (2006) definition of a modal particle, it is shown that final but has semantic-pragmatic properties of both a discourse marker and a modal particle. A socio-linguistic approach complements the analysis. Besides, the modal values identified are discussed in relation to Traugott's (1982) and Traugott and Dasher's (2002) theories of language change. Finally, it is explained how final but can be inserted in the category of final particles.