UH as a pragmatic marker in dementia discourse

In this paper we draw from variationist analysis and ethnographic and sociopragmatic approaches to examine conversations with Maureen Littlejohn who moved from mild into moderate Alzheimer's disease over the six years of the study. As dementia increases, people often find it difficult to use pragmatic particles such as well, so or you know. We explore how Ms Littlejohn used UH, often dismissed by researchers as only marking hesitations, as a...