The discourse functions of three Taiwanese particles la, hon and ne are analyzed. These utterance particles occur primarily found in the spoken language, usually conversation. The corpus of the study comprises transcription of recorded face-to-face, telephone, and radio talk show conversation, casual interviews, and church sermons. All three Taiwanese particles express a form of emphasis but in different ways. La has five interrelated functions, depending on the context: 1. To express in an assertion and in an answer to a question; 2. To express a sense of guessing or questioning; 3. To express one's impatience, dislike, or annoyance; 4. To indicate a sense of coaxing; 5. To emphasize each item in an incomplete list. Hon expresses the lowest degree of speaker emphasis of the three particles. It is used to elicit a minimal or a positive response from the addressee. Finally, ne expresses the strongest degree of emphasis of the three. It is usually used to draw the addressee's attention to information that the speaker assumes is new to the hearer. / Department of English