Concerning certain topic markers, their grammatical properties and their performance in discourse

Abstract

Concerning certain topic markers, their grammatical properties and their performance in discourse. Some linguistic expressions are specialized in presenting the topic of conversation or in introducing a change in the topic of discourse. Here, three such expressions have been selected: en relación con, por cierto and a propósito (de), with the goal of determining their differences on a grammatical level (establishing their components and their syntactic relationship within a sentence) as well as their performance in a dialogue as cohesive elements of the text´s informative structure.

The first expression (en relación con) represents a varied set of components (acerca de, en cuanto a, en lo relativo a, en lo que respecta a, por lo que toca a, etc.) that systematically appear in order to introduce a noun or a nominalized unit that is presented as the subject of the sentence, and that is consequently essential to the construction´s viability. In contrast, por cierto never is accompanied by a referential expression, and its discursive role consists of informing the interlocutor that a digression is about to occur. On the scale between these extremes, we find a propósito (de). This last expression presents a mixed behavior. On some occasions, it can be followed by a noun that it marks as the subject, while on others it appears in a reduced form and equates to por cierto.