Nguyen Thi Lan Anh

A Descriptive Analysis of the Semantic and Pragmatic Functions of Chotto in Selected Japanese Literary and Media Materials

The Japanese adverb chotto is commonly introduced as a scalar expression meaning ‘a little’, ‘slightly’, or ‘for a short while’. In actual use, however, it also performs a range of pragmatic functions. Speakers may use it to attract attention, maintain a conversational turn, reduce the directness of a request, signal h...