Semantic and pragmatic uses of ‘but’

Abstract

ABSTRACTAll uses of the connective but by narrating children 3; 6 to 9; 6 were classified as having primarily semantic function, pragmatic function, or as errors. The youngest children make the majority of errors, mistakenly using but when causal or precausal relationships exist. All children most commonly use but to signal semantic relationships such as semantic opposition or violation of expectation, although the oldest children use but proportionately more to encode more complex contrasts. However, children at all ages also use but for primarily pragmatic functions, to interrupt the flow of their narrative in order to insert relevant comments, monitor the listener's attention, or change topic. If discourse can be conceptualized as having multiple levels, but signals a change in level within a speaker's turn.