Vocatives as attitudinal markers: The Tunisian Arabic particle ha:.

Based on the analysis of a linguistic corpus, this study uses relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1986/1995) to demonstrate that the Tunisian Arabic particle ha :, which has never received any research attention, acts as an attitudinal marker in addition to its vocative function. Namely, ha: is restricted to utterances in which the speaker is expressing negative emotion or a subtype of positive emotion that can only be directed at the addressee. The data analysis shows that, unlike its relatively unmarked and well-studied counterpart ya: , ha: is restricted in terms of its frequency of distribution and the types of speaker emotions and attitudes expressed in the utterance in which it occurs. This study argues that ha: encodes a procedure which instructs the hearer to recognize the speaker's emotion or attitude expressed toward them in the utterance. The particle ha: therefore, serves as an explicit additional guarantee of relevance that encourages the hearer to look for additional contextual assumptions in order to achieve the speaker's desired interpretation. • The choice between the two vocative particles ha: and ya: is not arbitrary. • The Tunisian Arabic particle ha: acts as an attitudinal marker. • ha: encodes a procedure guiding the hearer to recognize the speaker's emotions. • The particle ha: serves as an explicit additional guarantee of relevance. • The particle ha : is no always compatible with the speaker's preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]