TY - GEN A1 - Wiese, Heike T1 - So as a focus marker in German T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe N2 - This paper discusses a hitherto undescribed usage of the particle so as a dedicated focus marker in contemporary German. I discuss grammatical and pragmatic characteristics of this focus marker, supporting my account with natural linguistic data and with controlled experimental evidence showing that so has a significant influence on speakers’ understanding of what the focus expression in a sentence is. Against this background, I sketch a possible pragmaticalization path from referential usages of so via hedging to a semantically bleached focus marker, which, unlike particles such as auch ‘also’/‘too’ or nur ‘only’, does not contribute any additional meaning. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe - 102 Y1 - 2016 UR - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/9359 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93592 SN - 1866-8380 IS - 102 ER -