12 EXERCISES ON PRAGMATIC MARKERS

ITALIAN

1) dai in online chats

Directions:
A) Intuitively group together the extracts where dai appears to be conveying the same meaning.

B) Paraphrase the meanings of dai you have intuitively classified.

C) Identify (lexico-syntactic) cues in the extracts that may support your interpretation.

D) Share your thoughts with a partner, and revise your analysis, if need be.

G9/it
[...]
B. Per me tutto è chiaro già adesso. Senza chiaccherare (un smiley) 00:00
B. Ma noooooooooooo. Non posso venire così subito...
A. Xk nn puoi venire subito ahahah? 00:02
A. Dai vieni
--------------
H1/it
[...]
A. Ah bene:) hai facebook o instagram? Non ti aggiungo, è solo per avere la certezza che non tu sia fake
A. Tu non sia* sorry
A. (un smiley)
B. Ma daaaaaiiiiii !!!!
B. Non c’è nessun ragione che io sia fake (une émoticône scpetique)
----------------------
P1/it
A. Ciao 17:29
B. Ciao 17:32
A. Cone31 va 17:33
31
B. bene, grazie. Te? 17:36
A. Bene dai 17:37
A. In relax 17:37
B. ottimo 17:43
[...]
-------------------

1
P5/it
[...]
A. Hai Skype?:) 13:04
B. Certo 13:04
A. T va di vederci li per le 13:13? 13:04
A. ? 13:06
B. Mi va di vederci nella vita reale (un smiley) 13:22
A. Anxhe a me 13:22
A. Ma prima voglio vederti lì:) ci vesiamo 13:22
B. Strano...13:23
A. Perché?:) daiii dammi contatto 13:23
B. Si potrebbe vedersi direttamente senza Skype 13:26
A. No...prima vedo sempre su Skype e poi ci si vede 13:26
[...]
A. Altre foto 13:52
B. Ma daiiiii! Ti avevo aperto il mio album. Tu invece non mi hai mandato nessuna foto (une émoticône
sceptique) 13:56
A. Ti ho detto che avevo Skype ma non vuoi 13:56
----------------------------
P6/it
A. Ciao 17:36
B. Ciao 17:36
A. Tutto bene ? 17:37
B. Sì. Grazie. 17:37
A. Si dai, di ritorno dal lavoro 17:37
B. Bene 17:38
[...]
-------------------
P7/it
A. Hey ciao 12:38
B. Ciao 12:50
A. Come va? 12:51
B. Bene, bene. Tu come stai? 12:52
A. Non male dai!! 12:55

2
 ENGLISH
in fact in writing

2-a) Directions:

A) Read the following sets of examples of in fact.

B) In each set, specify the meaning conveyed by in fact, either by paraphrasing it, or by replacing it with a
different function word (or group of function words) or by translating it into Italian.

C) Identify (lexico-syntactic) cues in the extracts that may support your interpretation.

D) Share your thoughts with a partner, and revise your analysis, if need be.

E) Together, decide if all the specific meanings can be subsumed under a more general meaning or not.

Set I)

“It’s not very thick. In fact, it’s thin.”

“I intend to do something about it. In fact, I intend to do a lot.”
“Why don’t I give you the reference to … In fact, I’ll give you a copy of the whole document.”
“Due to the immense pressure the caregiver is under, elder abuse is not uncommon; in fact physical abuse
by trusted caregivers is among the most common type of violent offense experienced by older adults
(Payne, 2002)”
“though these statements may provide useful, in fact, compelling evidence for such a theory”
“[…] if you push this down in here it sticks. In fact, it sticks incredibly hard”
“Furthermore, it is clear that once a route becomes part of a trans-European network, we are talking of
more than small-scale bypasses. We have in fact adopted Amendment No. 13, which makes it quite
clear that we are talking about roads which are four-lane roads at least and which have,
mysteriously, an absence of junctions.”

Set II)

“Californians might look as if they’re having fun, but in fact they’re working their butts off.”
“Rafael Benitez could talk himself out of trouble but, in fact, he’s made things worse.”
“Children are no longer economic assets, but are in fact very financially costly”
“The levels of the dioxin appear to be small, but in fact they have been found to be higher in paper tissues
and in paper towels than in some other things.”
“[…] you expected it to be thick, but in fact it’s about as thin as water”
“[…] nurturing the misconception that states exist to protect their citizens when in fact they more often
endanger them.”

3
 Set III)
“Such research indicates at what age a child best understands scientific rules involved in separate
disciplines in science, namely biology and physics. It also demonstrates that concepts are, in fact,
comprehended at different ages.”
“Having looked at the properties originally assigned to the mind, I have come to the conclusion that it does
in fact need other things attributed to it for it to remain a meaningful consent.”
“Humanity, comfortably engaged elsewhere in the business of living, is absent in fact but everywhere
present in feeling”

2b) Now assign one of the above meanings to the following examples

very financially costly, and many women may

Children are no longer economic assets, but are in fact decide they cannot afford to have children
(Schoen et al, 1997).

Bhaskar went as far as to describe it as the

The concept of 'intentionality' is also central to the realist
in fact "sine qua non" of the potential problem of
position;
naturalism (Bhaskar, 1989; 173).

Moreover, central to the 'failure' of the 1905 revolt, was

in fact economical
the reality that its aims were initially not political, but were

Hence, Hitler's 'charismatic rule' was seen as a welcome appeal to the romantic within each person-
and much needed respite to the inefficient Weimar in fact the harking back to the Second Reich of
Republic, and did Bismarck.

physical abuse by trusted caregivers is among

Due to the immense pressure the caregiver is under, elder
in fact the most common type of violent offense
abuse is not uncommon;
experienced by older adults (Payne, 2002).