Modal particle meanings

Abstract

Abstract One of the challenges of modal particle research is the search for appropriate ways to describe the meanings these particles convey. As these meanings are subtle and situated at the abstract and non-propositional level of intersubjective meaning making, the function of the particles is notoriously hard to pin down. As a consequence, scholars also disagree on what the precise relation between different but related particles is. In this paper, I show that gesture analysis can shed new light on these issues. By looking at the gestures used with the German particles denn, ja, doch, eben, einfach, and halt, the paper illustrates how studying gestures can lead to a better understanding of the particles and their mutual relations by showing how gesture data can offer new evidence for existing hypotheses and help in finding a way out of matters of discussion.