Mos as a discourse marker in rural Cape Afrikaans

Abstract

This article aims to characterise mos as a discourse marker (DM), and to explore its pragmatic functions in the discourse of speakers of non-standard Afrikaans. Through an analysis of the functions of the use of mos in conversational data collected among nine rural speakers of so-called ‘Cape Afrikaans’, it is shown to fulfil a number of criteria drawn from the relevant literature by which an item may be characterised as a DM. Specifically, mos is seen to function in relating segments of discourse, creating coherence in narratives, expressing logical and causal links, indicating a speaker's position with regard to a proposition, constructing an argument, managing shared information, and signalling a comment on a proposition. It is shown that the DM mos has a wide range of functions in the discourse of rural speakers of Cape Afrikaans.