Anja Hennemann

• In this paper, the different uses and functions of (yo) pienso (que) are analysed. The examples demonstrate that (yo) pienso (que) fulfils various functions. It is used as a marker of cognitive attitude concerning the proposition (that is, the speaker expresses his validative attitude or an inference), as a pragmatic marker or as a cognitive particle. In this study, we introduce the term ‘cognitive particle’ in order to describe the use of (yo) pienso (que) when its use serves to gain time in processing the enunciation or to structure theIn this paper, the different uses and functions of (yo) pienso (que) are analysed. The examples demonstrate that (yo) pienso (que) fulfils various functions. It is used as a marker of cognitive attitude concerning the proposition (that is, the speaker expresses his validative attitude or an inference), as a pragmatic marker or as a cognitive particle. In this study, we introduce the term ‘cognitive particle’ in order to describe the use of (yo) pienso (que) when its use serves to gain time in processing the enunciation or to structure the speaker’s thoughts. The empirical data are on the one hand retrieved from the corpus programme CREA, of debates and interviews focusing on peninsular Spanish, and on the other hand from GlossaNet, more precisely from the newspapers El País and El Mundo. This analysis is a qualitative one because we do not focus on the frequency of the different functions. Instead, we want to illustrate the various functions (yo) pienso (que) fulfils.…