Heinemann2016a

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Heinemann2016a
BibType ARTICLE
Key Heinemann2016a
Author(s) Trine Heinemann
Title From ‘looking’ to ‘seeing’: Indexing delayed intelligibility of an object with the Danish change-of-state token n↑å↓:
Editor(s)
Tag(s) Change-of-state, Danish, Visual perception, Objects, EMCA
Publisher
Year 2016
Language English
City
Month
Journal Journal of Pragmatics
Volume 104
Number
Pages 108–132
URL Link
DOI 10.1016/j.pragma.2016.04.003
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

This paper focuses on a particular type of change-of-state, namely one involving a shift from looking to seeing. In Danish, this change-of-state is indexed by producing a prosodically modified version of the more standard change-of-state token, nå, with longer duration and rise-fall pitch, as n↑å↓:. The paper demonstrates how n↑å↓: can be employed to index a particular type of delayed now-understanding, namely that an object which a participant had earlier failed to see for what it is has now – and only now – become intelligible to that participant. I identify two sequential contexts in which the intelligibility of an object can be made relevant; (a) as an a priori concern by virtue of questions such as “what is that?” and (b) as gradually emerging through interactional relevancies. For both contexts I demonstrate that the production of n↑å↓: is systematically organized to conclude extended periods of intense scrutiny and that n↑å↓: thus serves to claim that its producer has undergone a shift from simply looking at an object to now seeing what that object is.

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