Abstract
Abstract While the particle ja (yes) has been analyzed extensively in both spoken and written German, its counterpart nein (no) has not received much attention. This has to do with the fact that ja is a multifunctional word that can be used as a positive responsive particle, a modal particle, a discourse marker or a tag question. In contrast, nein is usually only ascribed a narrow range of functions centering around negative responsivity particle. The aim of this article is to ask whether nein is indeed only used as a negative responsive or whether it, too, is multifunctional – and if so, what its functions are. On the basis of an empirical analysis of spoken German formal and discourse-functional properties of nein are described.
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