A Sociolinguistics Study of “OK†as a Discourse Marker

Abstract

Language is never an isolated or closed system, which may always related with other languages in different forms. Due to the high degree of contact between Chinese and English, “OK†becomes a frequently used word in spoken language and undergoing pragmatic variations in the Chinese context. Sociolinguistics is the sub-field of linguistics that studies the language and society between the use of language and the social structure in which the user of language live. It is found that there exists differences among different age, gender and occupation groups in the use and understanding of “OK.†By analyzing the questionnaire results from the random samples of 321 people, the paper aims to study the relationships between language usage and social factors, and the use of “OK†as a discourse marker. It is hoped that the study can help people have a deeper understanding of the various pragmatic variation of daily conversation in Chinese context.