Svennevig2010

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Svennevig2010
BibType ARTICLE
Key Svennevig2010
Author(s) Jan Svennevig
Title Pre-empting reference problems in conversation
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, expansions, progessivity, reference, turn construction
Publisher
Year 2010
Language
City
Month
Journal Language in Society
Volume 39
Number 2
Pages 173–202
URL Link
DOI 10.1017/S0047404510000060
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

The topic of this article is how conversationalists deal with emergent problems of reference in the construction of a turn at talk. It analyzes practices for modifying and expanding a turn-constructional unit in progress to accommodate information that will introduce a referent to the interlocutor or check his or her familiarity with it. One set of practices expands the turn after the referring expression has been produced: apokoinou constructions and appositions. A second, and previously undescribed, practice is identified by which speakers insert referent identification before the referring expression has been produced. In this practice, speakers initiate two separate sentence structures and complete them both by merging them in a common complement. This practice has the advantage of embedding the subordinate activity of establishing reference within the main sentence frame, and furthermore minimizes the disruption of sequential progressivity of the talk. (Turn construction, reference, expansions, apokoinou, apposition, progressivity)

Notes