The development of “digressive” discourse-topic shift markers in English

Abstract

Mittwoch et al. (2002:779) list by the way, incidentally, and parenthetically as clause adjuncts that in contemporary English “signal the informational status of their clause” and “indicate a change of topic or digression, generally suggesting that the new information is less important”. This supports Pons and Estellés's (2009) argument that “digression” involves topic shift. I address the question how the three metatextual discourse markers and the now obsolescent marker by the by developed out of adverbials into topic shift markers. This development is a case of subjectification. By the way has recently also come to be used “transgressively” In the context of Oh, to signal disapproval of someone else's actual or imagined statement. This is a case of evaluative intersubjectification evoking social norms. The approach is constructionalist (see Traugott and Trousdale 2013). After briefly outlining the history of the four “digressive” discourse markers, the question is posed whether it is reasonable to posit an abstract schematic construction for the markers that Mittwoch et al. regard as a set.