How modal particles and discourse relations interact: Empirical evidence

This paper looks at German modal particles from the perspective of discourse structure. Using the discourse relations proposed by Rhetorical Structure Theory, the interaction between these relations and modal particles is analysed. I will show for two particles (ja and doch) that (a) the occurrence of these particles correlates with certain discourse relations (corpus study), and (b) that when given the choice between these particles, native speakers choose the particle depending on the discourse relation. The results are to be explained in a theory of Common Ground management.