A comparative study of the pragmatic marker like in Irish English and in south-eastern varieties of British English

Abstract

This study compares the use of like in Irish English (IrE) to its use in southeastern British English (SE-BrE). There are significant differences between the use of like in IrE and SE-BrE in terms of overall frequency, social meaning and positioning. This paper argues that the differences in the use of like require a functional explanation on two levels, namely on a language-external social level and on a language-internal discourse-pragmatic level. On the extra-linguistic level, the differences in like’s social profile indicate distinct social meanings while, on a language-internal level, differences in positioning suggest that either like is used to perform distinct pragmatic functions or that uses of like in clause-medial and clause-final positions compete to perform similar functions, e.g. focusing elements. The substantial differences revealed by the analysis are accounted for by historical and identity-related factors.

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