Unfinished Turns in French: How Context Matters
On occasions, speakers do not complete their turns in conversation. Such syntactically-incomplete turns are not treated with repair or misunderstanding. The responses that they receive display a clear understanding of the actions that the unfinished turns embodied. In this article, using conversatio...
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| Format: | Article |
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Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
2008
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/694/ |
| Summary: | On occasions, speakers do not complete their turns in conversation. Such syntactically-incomplete turns are not treated with repair or misunderstanding. The responses that they receive display a clear understanding of the actions that the unfinished turns embodied. In this article, using conversation analysis (CA), I describe the systematic occurrence of unfinished turns in French conversation. I show that context is necessary to the understanding of this type of turn and I describe the nature of that context. Data analysis reveals that unfinished turns are understandable primarily by reference to their sequential position. I conclude that unfinished turns are a locally- managed resource fitted to the particulars of the talk in progress and built upon the context that the sequences that house them have so far provided. |
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