Analysis reveals three main functions of bushi in communication, indicating its unique pragmatic characteristics.
The discourse marker ‘bushi’can serve multiple pragmatic functions and influence the direction of communicative activities. Based on an analysis of the latest linguistic corpus, this article identifies three main functions of ‘bushi’: discourse correction, topic advancement, and conversational response. Additionally, it reveals that ‘bushi’ exhibits several pragmatic characteristics that distinguish it from other discourse markers, including differentiation, adhesiveness, integration, and ambivalence. At the same time, ‘bushi’ is not merely a reactive discourse marker, it also has various active and spontaneous pragmatic functions, such as initiating topics, shifting topics, and drawing attention.
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He et al. (2026) studied this question.
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