Latching

Marit Aldrup (University of Potsdam) (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7208-6822)

To cite: Aldrup, Marit. (2023). Latching. 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:

Definition:

Latching refers to the immediate transition from one turn-constructional unit (TCU) into the next without the usual beat of silence in between the two units. It thus contrasts with both unmarked transitions and transitions after a noticeable pause or gap (e.g., Jefferson 1984; 1986; 2004a; Schegloff 2000). In CA/IL transcription, latching is notated with equal signs at the end of the prior and the beginning of the next unit (Jefferson 2004b; Selting, et al. 2009).

The following example is a case in point. It is taken from a face-to-face conversation between three friends, which is, at that time, revolving around 30th birthday rituals for unmarried Germans, including cleaning door handles (for bachelorettes) and sweeping the town (hall) square (for bachelors):

[LoE_VG_01, 01:04:46-01:04:51 h]
01  HEI: ->  vorm rAthaus fegen find ich SCHLIMmer;=
             sweeping in front of the townhall is worse, I think
02       ->  =also da bin [ich schon f]rOh dass wir_n bisschen
03  HAN:                  [JA;        ]
                           yes
    HEI: ->  [BESser    ] (-) wEgkommen;=
              so there I’m glad that we ((bachelorettes)) are slightly better off actually
04  BIR:     [<<:-)> h°>]
05  HAN: ->  =das STIMMT allerdings;
              that’s right indeed

The recording is taken from the Languages of Emotion (LoE) corpus, which was compiled under the direction of Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen and Margret Selting for the project 'Emotive involvement in conversational storytelling', as part of the cluster of excellence Languages of Emotion (Freie Universität Berlin).

There are two distinct instances of latching in this extract: (i) latching within one speaker’s turn, i.e., intra-turn latching, and (ii) latching between two speakers’ turns, i.e., inter-turn latching.

• (i) Intra-turn latching: Towards the beginning of the extract above, Heike (HEI) latches a second assessing TCU onto her initial assessment of the 30th birthday ritual for bachelors (see lines 01 and 02). When latching is employed in this way, i.e., between two TCUs by the same speaker, it may serve as a turn-holding device in the production of multi-unit turns similar to other tempo-related turn-holding practices such as rush-throughs (e.g., Hepburn & Bolden 2013: 60) and abrupt-joins. In contrast to rush-throughs and abrupt-joins, however, the term ‘latching’ merely refers to the close temporal proximity of two adjacent TCUs, independent of other prosodic-phonetic features like pitch, loudness, or articulation. Therefore, latching is perhaps best conceived of as a purely tempo-related phenomenon, which can be used as a turn-holding device on its own but also form part of more complex turn-holding practices such as rush-throughs and abrupt-joins.
• (ii) Inter-turn latching: In the further course of the extract above, Hanna (HAN) both aligns and affiliates with her co-participant by latching an agreeing response right onto Heike’s comparative assessment of the 30th birthday ritual for bachelorettes (see lines 03 and 05). When latching is employed in this way, i.e., between two speakers’ turns, it typically accomplishes more than ‘simple’ transition, e.g., in the service of preference organization (Schegloff 2007: 67).

Additional Related Entries:

• Abrupt-join
• Transition-relevance place (TRP)
• Turn-holding
• Rush-through

Cited References:

Hepburn, A. & Bolden, G. B. (2013). The conversation analytic approach to transcription. In J. Sidnell & T. Stivers (Eds.) The Handbook of Conversation Analysis (pp. 57–76). Wiley-Blackwell.

Jefferson, G. (1984). Notes on some orderlinesses of overlap onset. In V. D’Urso (Ed.) Discourse Analysis and Natural Rhetoric (pp. 11–38). Cleup.

Jefferson, G. (1986). Notes on ‘latency’ in overlap onset. Human Studies, 9(2), 153–184.

Jefferson, G. (2004a). A sketch of some orderly aspects of overlap in natural conversation. In G. H. Lerner (Ed.) Conversation Analysis: Studies from the First Generation (pp. 43–59). John Benjamins.

Jefferson, G. (2004b). Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In G. H. Lerner (Ed.) Conversation Analysis: Studies from the First Generation (pp. 13–31). John Benjamins.

Schegloff, E. A. (2000). Overlapping talk and the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language in Society, 29(1), 1–63.

Schegloff, E. A. (2007). Sequence organization in interaction: A primer in Conversation Analysis (vol. 1). Cambridge University Press.

Selting, M., Auer, P., Barth-Weingarten, D., Bergmann, J., Bergmann, P., Birkner, K., Couper-Kuhlen, E., Deppermann, A., Gilles, P., Günther, S., Hartung, M., Kern, F., Mertzlufft, C., Meyer, C., Mirek, M., Oberzaucher, F., Peters, J., Quasthof, U., Schütte, W., Stukenbrock, A., & Uhmann, S. (2009). Gesprächsanalytisches Transkriptionssystem 2 (GAT 2). Gesprächsforschung - Online Zeitschrift zur verbalen Interaktion, 10, 353–402.

Additional References:

Zhang, W. (2012). Latching/rush-through as a turn-holding device and its functions in retrospectively oriented pre-emptive turn continuation: Findings from Mandarin conversation. Discourse Processes, 49(3–4), 163–191.