Chapter 5 reports on the uses of general extenders in terms of their textual function in the verbal record of interaction and their role in turn construction. An analysis is presented of some examples as performance fillers, placeholders or filled pauses used in the articulation of utterances, as well as their potential role for some speakers as oral punctuation marks, or punctors, all features that some would view negatively. Their role in the internal structure of utterances is described in terms of brackets and clusters, specifically as right brackets, and as elements in clusters with other pragmatic markers. Different forms are shown to have a role in information structure, including foregrounding, as well as in turn management. Distinct structural patterns can be observed in some cases when forms are used to indicate turn-completion and to mark topic shift, all described and exemplified.

Chapter 1 provides an introduction and overview of the topics covered in the book. General extenders, adjunctive and disjunctive, are defined, exemplified and their internal structure analyzed. Four functions are described, with examples, as referential, interpersonal, personal and textual. Thehistorical development of some common forms is described, as well as the processes of grammaticalization. Certain forms are recognized as linguistic variables that align with social variables to represent social markers in different communities. Translation equivalents are identified in a range of different languages and in the speech of second language learners and those using English as a lingua franca. Ideas are presented for teaching general extenders as examples of pragmatic markers. Their multifunctionality is illustrated, together with some observations on their position within utterances, leading to a novel claim that some forms can be used as associative plural markers, a feature hitherto undocumented in English.