This dissertation presents a semantic analysis of a set of four functionally related discourse markers that are used frequently in conversational Colombian Spanish. The markers analysed are bueno 'well, OK', pues 'well, then', o sea 'I mean, that is to say' and entonces 'so, then'.
The analysis is based on a corpus of four hours of spontaneous conversation, recorded in Colombia in 1997, and transcribed according to the UCSB transcription method (cf. Du Bois, Schuetze-Coburn, Cumming and Paolino 1993). The different functions of these markers identified in the corpus are outlined and compared with functions identified in previous analyses. A definition for each marker is proposed, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach (cf. Wierzbicka 1996, inter alia). It is argued that each marker has an identifiable semantic core, and that this is related to the lexical source from which the marker has grammaticised. It is shown that bueno, which developed from the adjective meaning 'good', is a marker of (partial) acceptance; pues, which developed from a causal marker, is used to highlight the link (both causal and other) between the utterance with which it occurs and an aspect of the prior discourse; o sea, literally 'or be it', marks an alternative formulation of a prior aspect of the discourse; and entonces, from the temporal adverb meaning something like 'then', marks the succession of events and of elements of the discourse.
This is one of the first corpus-based studies to present a semantic account, using a rigorous methodology, of the multifunctional nature of discourse markers. It demonstrates not only that discourse markers have definable meanings, but that an understanding of their meanings is essential to full understanding of their use.
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