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Discourse marker
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<p>A discourse marker is a <a href="/facts/Word/sD4KyoLF">word</a> or a <a href="/facts/Phrase/mbnD0ksH">phrase</a> that plays a role in managing the flow and structure of <a href="/facts/Discourse/6qITpvKg">discourse</a>. Since their main function is at the level of discourse (sequences of utterances) rather than at the level of utterances or sentences, discourse markers are relatively <a href="/facts/Syntax/6PxSV98p">syntax</a>-independent and usually do not change the <a href="/facts/Truth_condition/IMtoTRTc">truth conditional meaning</a> of the sentence. They can also indicate what a speaker is doing on a variety of different planes. Examples of discourse markers include the <a href="/facts/Grammatical_particle/Da0LIXEc">particles</a> <i>oh</i>, <i>well</i>, <i>now</i>, <i>then</i>, <i>you know</i>, and <i>I mean</i>, and the discourse connectives <i>so</i>, <i>because</i>, <i>and</i>, <i>but</i>, and <i>or</i>. The term <i>discourse marker</i> was popularized by <a href="/facts/Deborah_Schiffrin/gR0wH0TG">Deborah Schiffrin</a> in her 1987 book <i>Discourse Markers</i>. </p>