Pragmatic markers in contrast: The case of well

Well is the most frequently analysed discourse marker. However, its meaning still remains elusive. The question explored in this paper is to what extent a contrastive analysis of a pragmatic marker can help identify its meaning and functions. The answer to this question is supported by an analysis of the occurrences of well in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral and their functional equivalents in the Catalan and Spanish dubbed versions. The analysis provides evidence that pragmatic markers such as well exhibit differences in meaning when compared with logical markers such as but. Their meaning is fully pragmatic since it does not refer properly to a propositional content but to structural or modal discourse functions, and it can be represented as a radial category or semantic network.