Left-peripheral <i>bottom line</i> sequences

Abstract The N- is construction has evolved from main clause to parenthetical, and bottom line has even become a mobile marker. The spoken section of COCA shows that left-peripheral bottom line can be surrounded by other extra-clausal expressions compatible with its pragmatic functions (projection, summation/(sub)topic shift, emphasis, epistemic endorsement and objectification). The aim of this paper is to establish whether these categories exhibit ordering preferences. The study reveals that the left periphery can be divided into nine optional slots. The first four slots usually express disjunction with the previous utterance; they include turn-initiators, then discourse connectors, then markers of disalignment, and then attention-getters/(sub)topic shifters. The second part of the left periphery (Slots 5–9) is more argumentative. The fifth slot comprises subjectifiers: expressions of viewpoint meant to attenuate the peremptory tone of bottom line , which occupies the sixth slot. The seventh slot is filled by the stance-marking discourse marker though , and the eighth slot is typically composed of expressions which de-subjectify the upcoming assertion. Finally, the ninth slot is occupied by addresses, which can be used strategically to maintain the recipient in an inferior interactional position. Together, these expressions form powerful rhetorical devices meant to convince interlocutors while preserving their faces.