Abstract

This article is an approach to the study of the syntactic positions that parentetic connectors take in oral discourse in Catalan –in sentential segments particularly– based on the analysis of three connectors with different meanings: «a més a més» (additive), «però» (contrastive) and «doncs» (consecutive). The methodology used is contrastive: firstly, the positions in which all three linking words stand in a corpus of written language (written press) are studied, and secondly, the results obtained are compared with datum coming from an oral corpus constituted mainly of monologic texts. The comparison brings to light that conditions of production of oral modality (immediateness, lack of planning, etc) force to resorting to own strategies to guarantee the connection of the text, like reinforcing a conjunction with a parentetic connector («a més a més»), to promote the conjunctive use of a connector («però») and to assure the connection among subject-rheme («doncs»)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present a set of corpora of casual Catalan (especially oral and colloquial) gathered together in the VARCOM and PRAGMAESTIL projects carried out over the past twenty years at the University of Barcelona. The research has been conducted by the Grup d’Estudi de la Variació (GEV-UB), in particular by the Grup d’Estudis de Pragmàtica i Anàlisi del Discurs (GrEPAD). This paper reviews an oral corpus of colloquial conversation (COC, 2002), an oral corpus of registers (COR, 2004) and an audiovisual oral corpus of textual varieties (CAP, 2008). In the CAP, for the first time the images of the interlocutors are shown as they speak, alongside the transcribed texts. This paper focuses on the qualitative and research-oriented nature of these corpora. The final part of the text underlines the research possibilities that the corpora offer and also highlights the gaps remaining in the field of corpus linguistics applied to Catalan and its oral varieties.