Bilmes2011

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Bilmes2011
BibType ARTICLE
Key Bilmes2011
Author(s) Jack Bilmes
Title Occasioned semantics: A systematic approach to meaning in talk
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Semantics, Conversation Analysis
Publisher
Year 2011
Language
City
Month
Journal Human Studies
Volume 34
Number 2
Pages 155–181
URL Link
DOI 10.1007/s10746-011-9183-z
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

This paper puts forward an argument for a systematic, technical approach to formulation in verbal interaction. I see this as a kind of expansion of Sacks’ membership categorization analysis, and as something that is not offered (at least not in a fully developed form) by sequential analysis, the currently dominant form of conversation analysis. In particular, I suggest a technique for the study of “occasioned semantics,” that is, the study of structures of meaningful expressions in actual occasions of conversation. I propose that meaning and rhetoric be approached through consideration of various dimensions or operations or properties, including, but not limited to, contrast and co-categorization, generalization and specification, scaling, and marking. As illustration, I consider a variety of cases, focused on generalization and specification. The paper can be seen as a return to some classical concerns with meaning, as illuminated by more recent insights into indexicality, social action, and interaction in recorded talk.

Notes