The syntax of a discourse marker in Tunisian Arabic: a case of multiple interfaces

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes a syntactic analysis of the discourse marker ti: in Tunisian Arabic, traditionally viewed as a truth-value irrelevant verbal disfluency. Contrary to this perception, the study reveals ti: as a communicatively salient element with distinctive properties that are best explained through a syntactic framework that enables the mapping of the discourse effects of ti: within a structural configuration beyond CP. Specifically, the analysis demonstrates that ti: is both grammatically multicategorial and pragmatically polysemous, reflecting complex interface dynamics. These dynamics suggest that its interpretive effects interact internally with various communicative domains and, crucially, that these interactions can be formalized within the syntax-discourse interface. This syntactic approach to ti: uncovers multiple inherent interface relationships and contributes to broader crosslinguistic research on discourse markers hin syntax-discourse interactions.