This paper aims at introducing a group of linguistic items called Discourse markers among other things. These items constitute a functional-pragmatic category of linguistic expressions which as the name suggests fuction primarily or even exclusively on the level of Discourse, rather than that of sentence,i.e. they pertain to language use, rather than to language structure, and thus cannot be studied in the absence of a context. Discourse markers are thought of as providing metalinguistic indications about the unfolding Discourse. This paper first introduces an approach to the study of Discourse markers formulated by Deborah Schiffrin (1987), and then based on the line of analysis in that approach attempts at comparing and contrasting the functions of but from English and "اما" from Persian as Discourse markers. It will become known that while these two markers have certain functions in common, they differ in one important function, that is, whereas "اما" is used as a marker of topic shift and introducing a new topic in Persian Discourse, but does not have such a function in the English Discourse.

Discourse markers are language elements that linguists do not have a consensus about their nature as well as their role and function. The present study aimed to investigate the function of Persian Discourse markers as reference elements, based on Fraser's (1999, 2006) approach. For this purpose, a corpus of two types of political and economic texts was selected. Taking print run and history into consideration, 16 editorials of Kayhan newspaper for political texts and 15 editorials of Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper for economic texts were analyzed, and the Discourse markers were classified into four categories: contrastive, elaborative, inferential and temporal. Data analysis showed that the formula presented by Fraser (1999, 2006), for the sequence of sentences connected by Discourse markers, is slightly different in Persian and should be rewritten as S2+DM.S1 /S1.S2 + DM. Furthermore, based on the importance of the information contained in the sentences preceding and succeeding the markers, they can be divided into cataphoric marking (markers placed after the main message), anaphoric marking (markers placed before the main message), and joint marking (markers placed between two main messages). Data analysis indicated that contrastive and elaborative markers are considered as joint marking, and inferential and temporal markers are anaphoric marking in Persian. Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that Discourse markers can have a referencing function in information structure.

Forensic linguistics, as an emerging and impactful discipline, plays a crucial role in analyzing written and spoken Discourse in court cases and facilitating judicial processes, from investigation and case filing to sentencing. As a branch of applied linguistics, it assists researchers in analyzing the Discourse of court actors and uncovering the structure and style of courtroom documentation. The present study examines the conversations between judges and defendants in Iran's criminal courts through the lens of the theory of power and powerlessness (Aghagolzadeh, 2012,Gibbons, 1994, 2003). The research employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. The primary research question focuses on identifying the frequency of speech patterns of judges and defendants in 29 well-known and prominent cases. The analysis of these patterns in the conversations between judges and defendants, from the perspective of forensic linguistics, constitutes the core of this study. Data were collected from courtroom conversations available on the Aparat platform and transcribed. Qualitative analysis involved calculating the frequency and percentage of Discourse components used by judges and defendants, while inferential analysis compared their Discourse to detect significant differences using the chi-square statistical test, following the assessment of data reliability and validity. Regarding the variable "power, " the findings revealed that among the indicators of power, judges demonstrated a statistically significant difference from defendants in the use of two markers: "use of suggestive sentences, leading and closed questions" and "use of imperative sentences. " In the category of powerlessness, defendants showed a significant difference from judges in all indicators except "reference to a source of power. " The results of this study can enhance judges' training, both pre-service and in-service, by improving their knowledge of linguistics and Discourse analysis.

Discourse markers are of the most important elements of the language system, especially the conversational and informal language. Today, the study of Discourse markers is one of the newest and most important topics in linguistics. This is important because speeches which lack these linguistic units are incomprehensible, imperfect and not clear enough. These linguistic units perform different functions in a language system and "the emphatic function" is one of them. Speakers emphasize on a specific part or the whole of a Discourse using these Discourse markers. Of course, based on the fact that "emphasis" is a complex issue in the language system, different tools are used to express it. Discourse markers are one of these tools. In this research, the emphatic Discourse markers are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively based on the two-fold framework of Brinton (1996), according to functional approach, and in pragmatics sphere. For this purpose, a colloquial corpus has been selected, which consists of three telefilms such as "panj ta panj", "ye bilit šāns", and "amu jān hitler".

The present study is an attempt to investigate Persian men-women Discourse in cross-gender interactions by focusing on the type, frequency of occurrence and function(s) of Discourse markers in oral Discourse. The qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to identify DMs and to specify their functions as they occur in Persian language. The particular dialect spoken by people living in Tehran, the capital of Iran, is the focus of investigation. Brinton’s (1996) binary classification is adopted as a theoretical framework in defining the functions Persian DMs have at the interpersonal and textual levels. Altogether 34 types of Persian DMs are identified and their functions are specified in this study among which na/na baba (no) occupies the top rank in the frequency list. Another reading of the data pertains to the number and proportion of DMs employed by Persian male-female speakers. As it is inferred, the ratio of Discourse markers in the women’s Discourse is higher than the men’s (138 vs. 116) which accounts for the female speakers’ inclination to employ Discourse markers as helpful devices in fulfilling their communicative needs. Although the disharmony is observed in the number of Discourse markers in two gender groups, the results of the Chi-square test (p=0.157>0.5) indicates that it is not statistically significant. In terms of Discourse markers usage for the textual/interpersonal purposes, the qualitative and quantitative analyses yield significant gender differences. The results of the Chi-square test shows P=0.02<0.5 which is statistically significant enough to be emphasized. It indicates that Persian women are mainly concerned with their interpersonal needs while men care for the textuality of their Discourse. In sum, the difference between Persian men-women Discourse in terms of DMs usage is of functional type rather than quantitative where the gender of the speaker does seem to be an influencing factor in DMs usage.

Lack of contextual cues which are richly present in face-to-face communication imposes some conversational constraints on the interpersonal relationships in online classes. One of the means of expressing interpersonal stance is using Discourse markers. For the purposes of the present study, namely to investigate how the means of expressing interpersonal stance may be influenced by the medium of instruction (online vs. face-to- face), video recordings of six face-to-face and three online classes were investigated for interpersonal Discourse markers. A 300-minute video for the face-to-face and a 119-minute video for the online classes were obtained. The courses were General English ones, upper intermediate level. Results show that the occurrence of Discourse markers in online classes was about twice more than in the face-to-face ones. In online classes teachers demonstrate creativity and innovation in using DMs for expressing interpersonal stances which may be to compensate for the limitations of the medium. It is concluded that the medium of instruction has an effect on the amount of Discourse markers applied. This can raise awareness with regard to limitations and affordances of the online settings and lead to quality instruction.

One of the most striking characteristics of Armenian-Persian bilinguals in their Armenian language conversations in Iran, is the use of Persian Discourse markers instead of Armenian equivalents. This study gauges the extent to which Persian Discourse markers are used as multifunctional by Armenian- Persian bilinguals, their function and position in a clause as well as reasons for this substitution based on 10 hours of recorded informal Armenian conversations. The results show that xob, baba/aqa, be har hal, yani, hala, vali, belakhareh, aslant, vaqean, kollan and khodaees are among the Discourse markers used by Armenians. Lack of Armenian equivalent, the multifunctional nature, saliency in content or suprasegmental features and simple structure in some Persian Discourse markers are the main reason for their selection.

The aim of this research is to study Persian Discourse markers in Azerbaijani speakers’ speech. Data was collected from Azerbaijani speakers’ conversations over 18 hours in Ardabil. Investigating data shows that Persian Discourse markers, " xob, be hǝ r hal, yǝ ni, vǝ li, belǝ xǝ re, ǝ slǝ n, vaqeǝ n, kolǝ n, vallah, mǝ sǝ lǝ n, xolase, be xatere, ǝ lbǝ te, be qoli, ǝ ma˒ dǝ rhalike˒ bǝ d˒ ҫ ö n˒ dǝ qiqǝ n˒ dǝ rvaqe are used in Azerbaijani conversations. They take place in different positions in a sentence with various Discourse functions. The reasons of these substitutions are multifunctionality, lack of equivalents and simplicity of Persian Discourse markers. Data analysis based on linguistic and non-linguistic criteria of borrowing/code-switching differentiation shows that the majority of Persian Discourse markers have been borrowed by Azerbaijani and some of them appear as code-switched elements in bilinguals’ speech. The findings are in line with Myers-Scotton’ s view describing borrowing/code-switching continuum as a mechanism for accomplishment of borrowing process.