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Discourse Marker

Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A word or phrase (like 'well,' 'so,' 'however') used to manage the flow and structure of a conversational poem or dramatic monologue.

Detailed Definition
Discourse Marker in poetry refers to linguistic elements—such as “well,” “so,” “you know,” or “I mean”—that signal shifts in tone, perspective, or rhetorical stance; though more common in spoken language, their poetic use can create intimacy, hesitation, or conversational realism.
Example
Example in poetry:
In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “indeed” and “after all” function as discourse markers of hesitation; In Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen,” “you think” and “perhaps” mark racial microaggressions as discourse; In Ocean Vuong’s “Time Is a Mother,” “I mean” and “well” create conversational discourse markers of grief; In Frank O’Hara’s “Lunch Poems,” “so” and “anyway” mark urban spontaneity; In Gwendolyn Brooks’ “The Bean Eaters,” “plain” and “creaking” act as discourse markers of humble realism.
Additional Notes
Discourse Marker in poetry (e.g., “well,” “so,” “anyway”) signals shifts in tone, logic, or speaker stance; it adds conversational realism and can reveal psychological nuance or rhetorical strategy.
Also Known As
Filler word Connective
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