A Socio-Pragmatic Study of Multifunctional Discourse Marker i:h in Algerian Spoken Arabic

The present study aims at investigating and describing the pragmatic functions of the discourse marker i:h in the Algerian Spoken Arabic, specifically in the eastern south, in the city of Ouargla. This piece of work is unique of its type in the Algerian context because it is the first to be conducted from a pragmatic perspective. Twelve different situations were included in the questionnaire which consists of one hundred items to collect data. The study adapted the pragmatic approach by Fraser (1990), which accounts upon a differentiation between content and pragmatic meaning. The findings revealed that, based on context, the discourse marker i:h is multifunctional in Algerian Spoken Arabic, and it conveys at least 12 meanings. Other functions were suggested by the participants. The distinction between the two groups at the level of both variables age and gender was not significantly marked.