Understanding Pragmatic Markers is inspired by recent ideas in pragmatics on variation in language use with regard to social, cultural and regional factors. Karin Aijmer argues that in addition to a general analysis of pragmatic markers we need to take into account their occurrence in different varieties of English, text types and activity types. Expanding the study of pragmatic markers in this way broadens the area of study and results in a better knowledge of pragmatic markers in general. By discussing the different theoretical frameworks, methodologies such as corpus linguistics and the debates around the categorisation of the functions of pragmatic markers, this accessible introduction brings students and scholars in linguistics up-to-date with this dynamic field of research. Karin Aijmer is Professor Emeritus at the University of Gothenburg. Cover image: @ CactuSoup/iStockphoto. Cover design: [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com

Karin Aijmer is professor emeritus in English linguistics at the University of Gothenburg