A sentence dispersed within a turn-at-talk
Response-opportunity places as loci for interactional work
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.34561Keywords:
japanese interaction, conversation analysis, response-opportunity places, grammatical constructionAbstract
The aim of this study is to show that there is orderliness in a piece of talk that is extremely complex and, in so doing, to explore the grammatical construction of naturally occurring, and contingently produced, utterances in Japanese interaction. First, I distinguish between unit-completeness and turn-completeness. Second, I introduce the notion of response-opportunity places to indicate those places in which although the ongoing talk is still both unit- and turn-incomplete, responses may be produced. These places are systematically used as loci for initiating solutions to various possible interactional problems, such as problems of hearing and understanding. Third, I examine different practices through which the speaker returns to the incomplete turn-constructional unit. The orderliness of the target talk is the result of the speaker’s systematic use of these places and practices.
References
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Ochs, E., Schegloff, E. A., & Thompson, T. (Eds.). (1996). Interaction and grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620874
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action (pp. 57–101). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sacks, H. (1978). Some technical considerations of a dirty joke. In J. Schenkein (Ed.), Studies in the organization of conversational interaction (pp. 249–270). New York: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-623550-0.50017-3
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Sacks, H. (1992). Lectures on conversation (2 vols.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50(4), 696–735. https://doi.org/10.2307/412243
Sacks, H., & Schegloff, E. A. (1979). Two preferences in the organization of reference to persons in conversation and their interaction. In G. Psathas (Ed.), Everyday language: Studies in ethnomethodology (pp. 15–21). New York: Irvington.
Schegloff, E. A. (1968). Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist, 70, 1075–1095. DOI: 10.1525/aa.1968.70.6.02a00030
Schegloff, E. A. (1979). The relevance of repair to syntax-for-conversation. In T. Givon (Ed.), Syntax and semantics, Volume 12: Discourse and syntax (pp. 261–286). New York: Academic Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (1980). Preliminaries to preliminaries: ‘Can I ask you a question?’ Sociological Inquiry, 50, 104–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.1980.tb00018.x
Schegloff, E. A. (1982). Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of ‘uh huh’ and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (Ed.), Analyzing discourse: Text and talk (pp. 71–93). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (2001). Conversation analysis: A project in process – increments. Forum Lecture, LSA Linguistics Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Schegloff, E. A. (2007). Sequence organization in interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791208
Schegloff, E. A. (2010). Some other ‘uh(m)’s. Discourse Processes, 47, 130–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/01638530903223380
Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G., &. Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53: 361–382. https://doi.org/10.2307/413107
Tanaka, H. (1999). Turn-taking in Japanese conversation: A study in grammar and interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Wakamatsu, M., & Hosoda, Y. (2003). Sogo koi, bunpo, and yosoku kanose (Interaction, grammar, and projectability). Goyoron Kenkyu, 5, 31–43.
Hayashi, M. (2001). Postposition-initiated utterances in Japanese conversation: An interactional account of a grammatical practice. In M. Selting & E. Couper-Kuhlen (Eds.), Studies in interactional linguistics (pp. 317–343). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/sidag.10.15hay
Hayashi, M. (2003). Joint utterance construction in Japanese conversation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/sidag.12
Hayashi, M. (2004). Discourse within a sentence: An exploration of postpositions in Japanese as an interactional resource. Language in Society, 33, 343–376. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404504043027
Hayashi, M. (2005). Referential problems and turn construction: An exploration of an intersection between grammar and interaction. Text, 25(4), 437–468. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.2005.25.4.437
Hayashi, M., & Kushida, S. (2013). Responding with resistance to wh-questions in Japanese talk-in-interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 46(3), 231–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2013.810407
Iwasaki, S. (2009). Initiating interactive turn spaces in Japanese conversation: Local projection and collaborative action. Discourse Processes, 46, 226–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/01638530902728918
Jefferson, G. (1972). Side sequences. In D. Sudnow (Ed.), Studies in social interaction (pp. 294–338). New York: Free Press.
Jefferson, G. (1973). A case of precision timing in ordinary conversation: Overlapped tag-positioned address terms in closing sequences. Semiotica, 9(1), 47–96. https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1973.9.1.47
Jefferson, G. (2004a). A note on laughter in ‘male–female’ interaction. Discourse Studies, 6(1), 117–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445604039445
Jefferson, G. (2004b). Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In G. H. Lerner (Ed.), Conversation analysis (pp. 13–23). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.125.02jef
Kushida, S. (2006). Sogokoi chitsujo to kaiwa bunseki (Interactional order and conversation analysis). Kyoto: Sekai Shiso Sha.
Lerner, G. H. (1991). On the syntax of sentences in progress. Language in Society, 20, 441–458. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500016572
Lerner, G. H. (1996). On the ‘semi-permeable’ character of grammatical units in conversation: Conditional entry into the turn space of another speaker. In E. Ochs, E. A. Schegloff, & S. Thompson (Eds.), Interaction and grammar (pp. 238–276). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620874.005
Lerner, G. H. (2004). On the place of linguistic resources in the organization of talk-in-interaction: Grammar as action in prompting a speaker to elaborate. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 37(2), 151–184. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3702_3
Local, J. (1992). Continuing and restarting. In P. Auer & A. di Luzio (Eds.), The contextualization of language (pp. 273–296). Amsterdam: Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.22.18loc
Mazeland, H. (2007). Parenthetical sequences. Journal of Pragmatics, 39, 1816–1869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.05.005
Mazeland, H., & Huiskes, M. (2001). Dutch ‘but’ as a sequential conjunction: Its use as a resumption marker. In M. Selting & E. Couper-Kuhlen (Eds.), Studies in interactional linguistics (pp. 141–169). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/sidag.10.08maz
Mori, J. (1999). Negotiating agreement and disagreement in Japanese: Connective expressions and turn construction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/sidag.8
Mori, J. (2014). The re-examination of so-called ‘clefts’: A study of multiunit turns in Japanese talk-in-interaction. In K. Kabata & T. Ono (Eds.), Usage-based approaches to Japanese grammar: Towards the understanding of human language (pp. 193–222). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.156.14mor
Morita, E. (2005). Negotiation of contingent talk: The Japanese interactional particles ne and sa. Amsterdam: John Bejanmins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.137
Nishizaka, A. (2008). Hatsugen junban nai ni oite bunsan suru bun (Dispersed sentences within a turn-at-talk). Shakaigengo Kagaku (Japanese Journal of Language in Society), 10(2), 83–95. DOI: 10.19024/jajls.10.2_83
Nishizaka, A. (2016). The use of demo-prefaced response displacement for being a listener to distressful experiences in Japanese interaction. Text & Talk, 36(6), 757–787. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2016-0033
Ochs, E., Schegloff, E. A., & Thompson, T. (Eds.). (1996). Interaction and grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620874
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action (pp. 57–101). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sacks, H. (1978). Some technical considerations of a dirty joke. In J. Schenkein (Ed.), Studies in the organization of conversational interaction (pp. 249–270). New York: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-623550-0.50017-3
Sacks, H. (1987). On the preferences for agreement and contiguity in sequences in conversation. In G. Button & J. R. E. Lee (Eds.), Talk and social organisation (pp. 34–69). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Sacks, H. (1992). Lectures on conversation (2 vols.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50(4), 696–735. https://doi.org/10.2307/412243
Sacks, H., & Schegloff, E. A. (1979). Two preferences in the organization of reference to persons in conversation and their interaction. In G. Psathas (Ed.), Everyday language: Studies in ethnomethodology (pp. 15–21). New York: Irvington.
Schegloff, E. A. (1968). Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist, 70, 1075–1095. DOI: 10.1525/aa.1968.70.6.02a00030
Schegloff, E. A. (1979). The relevance of repair to syntax-for-conversation. In T. Givon (Ed.), Syntax and semantics, Volume 12: Discourse and syntax (pp. 261–286). New York: Academic Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (1980). Preliminaries to preliminaries: ‘Can I ask you a question?’ Sociological Inquiry, 50, 104–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.1980.tb00018.x
Schegloff, E. A. (1982). Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of ‘uh huh’ and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (Ed.), Analyzing discourse: Text and talk (pp. 71–93). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (2001). Conversation analysis: A project in process – increments. Forum Lecture, LSA Linguistics Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Schegloff, E. A. (2007). Sequence organization in interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791208
Schegloff, E. A. (2010). Some other ‘uh(m)’s. Discourse Processes, 47, 130–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/01638530903223380
Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G., &. Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53: 361–382. https://doi.org/10.2307/413107
Tanaka, H. (1999). Turn-taking in Japanese conversation: A study in grammar and interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Wakamatsu, M., & Hosoda, Y. (2003). Sogo koi, bunpo, and yosoku kanose (Interaction, grammar, and projectability). Goyoron Kenkyu, 5, 31–43.
Published
2017-11-29
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Nishizaka, A. (2017). A sentence dispersed within a turn-at-talk: Response-opportunity places as loci for interactional work. East Asian Pragmatics, 2(2), 229-258. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.34561
