Position and polyfunctionality of discourse markers: The case of Spanish markers derived from motion verbs

•DMs prototypically depend on other discourse units for their interpretation.•DMs prefer an initial position within the discourse unit.•Some functions show clear tendencies of preferences for certain positions.•The discourse level at which a DM operates is associated with its functions.•More semantic-pragmatic autonomy of the DM entails more distributional diversity.

This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative study of the relationship between discourse positions and pragmatic functions of the Spanish discourse markers derived from motion verbs, namely anda, vamos, vaya and venga. These discourse markers are highly polyfunctional and concurrently have a high degree of positional freedom. The results show, first, that the position of a discourse marker and the discourse unit in which the marker is inserted restrict or activate its pragmatic functions. More particularly, discourse markers with an expressive, conative or discourse structuring function present a more increased pragmatic scope than those with a textual function operating at a more profound level of the discourse. Second, the degree of distributional freedom is related to the potential semantic-pragmatic autonomy of the discourse markers, rather than to the degree of functional diversity. In other words, discourse markers that do not necessarily depend on other discourse units (within the same turn) to convey their communicative intentions show a higher degree of positional freedom.