The contribution of the Basel model to the description of polyfunctional discourse markers

The goal of the present study is to illustrate the benefits of using a model of discourse units in describing and explaining the use of polyfunctional discourse markers. Specifically, the aim is to show that the so-called “Basel Model” of paragraph segmentation is a powerful tool in describing and explaining the use of Italian anche , French aussi , and Spanish también . The main hypothesis of the Basel Model is that the information level called hierarchical works as an interface between the instructions given at the most basic level of linguistic organization (grammar and the lexicon) and the level of discourse organization. Thus, the central claim of this study is that the semantic and pragmatic manifestations of Italian anche , French aussi , and Spanish también can be accounted for — and to a certain extent even predicted — on the basis of the information status of these items.