Projector construction
| Encyclopedia of Terminology for CA and IL: Projector construction | |
|---|---|
| Author(s): | Peter Auer (University of Freiburg, Germany) |
| To cite: | Auer, Peter. (2023). Projector construction. In Alexandra Gubina, Elliott M. Hoey & Chase Wesley Raymond (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Terminology for Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics. International Society for Conversation Analysis (ISCA). DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/KXBQM |
A projector construction is a syntactic construction which grammatically projects a(n) (often) complex continuation in the same turn. The term was coined by Paul Hopper and Susanne Günthner (2010) for certain cases of complex syntax in talk-in-interaction. Arguing in the framework of Emergent Grammar (Hopper 2011) and online syntax (Auer 2009), they show that constructions such as it-clefts, extrapositions, pseudoclefts, or thing-constructions (the thing is...) project a continuation; at the same time, this continuation often does not consist of one single clause but rather of a syntactically indeterminate stretch of talk which may include several clauses. The term therefore implies a critique of the bi-clausal analysis of complex syntax in traditional approaches (see also Hopper & Thompson, 2008).
The following example from the Santa Barbara Corpus of Spoken American English shows how a cleft-construction ("what you do with those third graders") is used to project a multi-unit turn:
['Third and Fourth Graders'] (adapted from Günthner & Hopper 2010: 9) 01 Sha: ( ) well, 02 (-) what you do with those third-graders, 03 you know, 04 is you just like, 05 h’ take them, 06 and put them, 07 you know, 08 with one of the smarter fourth-graders, 09 it’s very [ver]bal, 10 Car: [uh.] 10 Sha: and (-) and well-beha:ved.
Other exemplary analyses can be found, e.g., in Günthner’s (2011) work on N be that-constructions in German (where N is an abstract ‘shell noun’ in the sense of Schmid [2000], such as thing, problem, issue), or in Pekarek-Doehler’s (2011) analysis of je veux dire ‘I want to say’ and il y a N ‘there is a N' (where the N is a shell noun) in French. It is shown that the projected stretch of talk is often not marked as grammatically dependent on the projector construction, which itself tends to be formulaic.
Projector constructions with a shell noun are reminiscent of Goodwin’s (1996) prospective indexicals (such as “a problem” in "I think we are having a problem") which also project a subsequent semantic elaboration. However, they are also different as prospective indexicals project on purely semantic grounds while projector constructions are based on syntactic knowledge.
Additional Related Entries:
Cited References:
Auer, P. (2009). On-line syntax: thoughts on the temporality of spoken language. Language Sciences 31, 1-13.
Goodwin, C. (1996). Transparent vision. In E. Ochs, E. A. Schegloff, & S. A. Thompson (Eds.), Interaction and Grammar (pp. 370-404). Cambridge University Press.
Günthner, S. (2011). N be that-constructions in everyday German conversation. A reanalysis of die Sache ist/das Ding ist ('the thing is')-clauses as projector phrases. In R. Laury & R. Suzuki (Eds.) Subordination in Conversation. A Cross-linguistic Perspective (pp. 11-36). John Benjamins.
Günthner, S., & Hopper, P. (2010). Zeitlichkeit und sprachliche Strukturen: Pseudoclefts im Englischen und im Deutschen. Gesprächsforschung. Online-Zeitschrift zur verbalen Interaktion, 11, 1-18.
Hopper, P. (2011). Emergent grammar and the temporality in interactional linguistics. In P. Auer & S. Pfänder (Eds.), Constructions: Emerging and Emergent (pp. 22-44). De Gruyter.
Hopper, P., & Thompson, S. A. (2008). Projectability and clause combining in interaction. In R. Laury (Ed.), Crosslinguistic Studies of Clause Combining (pp. 99-123). John Benjamins.
Pekarek Doehler, S. (2011). Clause-combining and the sequencing of actions: Projector constructions in French talk-in-interaction. In R. Laury, & R. Suzuki (Eds.), Subordination in Conversation (pp. 103-148). John Benjamins.
Schmid, H.-J. (2000). English Abstract Nouns as Conceptual Shells. De Gruyter.
Additional References:
Auer, P. (2009) Projection and minimalistic syntax in interaction. Discourse Processes, 46(2), 180-205. Günthner, S. (2006). Was ihn trieb, war vor allem Wanderlust (Hesse: Narziss und Goldmund). Pseudocleft-Konstruktionen im Deutschen. In S. Günthner & W. Imo (Eds.), Konstruktionen in der Interaktion (pp. 59-90). De Gruyter.
Günthner, S. (2011). Between emergence and sedimentation: Projecting constructions in German interactions. In P. Auer & S. Pfänder (Eds.), Constructions: Emerging and Emergent (pp. 156-185). De Gruyter.
Hayashi, M. (2004). Projection and grammar: notes on the ‘action-projecting’ use of the distal demonstrative are in Japanese. Journal of Pragmatics, 36, 1337–1374.
Kim, K.-H., & Suh, K.-H. (2002). Demonstratives as prospective indexicals: ku and ce in Korean conversation. In N. Akatsuka & S. Strauss (Eds.) Japanese/Korean Linguistics, 10, CSLI Publications (pp. 192-204). Stanford.
