Minimal post-expansion

Encyclopedia of Terminology for CA and IL: Minimal post-expansion
Author(s):	Olivia H. Marrese (University of Colorado, Boulder) (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6162-267X)
To cite:	Marrese, Olivia H. (2023). Insert expansion (sequence). 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: []

A minimal post-expansion is a turn that occurs after a base second-pair part that expands the sequence and also moves to close (compared to non-minimal post-expansion sequences). A minimal post-expansion can take a variety of forms, such as sequence-closing thirds (more common) or post-completion musings (less common). For instance, this example from Heritage (1984) demonstrates two cases of a minimal post-expansion and a sequence-closing third via the change-of-state token oh.

(Heritage 1984: 310)

01  N:  Fb1->  =.hhh Dz he av iz own apa:rt[mint?]
02  H:  Sb2->                              [.hhhh] Yea:h=
03  N:  SCT->  =Oh:,
04             (1.0)
05  N:  Fb2->  How didju git iz number,
06             (.)
07  H:  Sb2->  I(h) (.) c(h)alled infermatio’n San Fr’ncissc(h)[uh!
08  N:  SCT->                                                  [Oh::::.

In this example, Nancy asks Hyla a question (line 1), to which Hyla responds (line 2). Nancy then registers the receipt of that information with “oh” (line 3). This “oh” comes post the base first- and second-pair parts, and it expands the sequence to third position. Similarly, in line 5 Nancy asks Hyla another question, and in line 7 Hyla responds. After this base adjacency pair, Nancy again expands the sequence in third position with “oh” (line 8).

Another kind of minimal post-expansion are post-completion musings or postmortems, though they are much less frequent than sequence closing thirds (Schegloff 2007: 142). Post-completion musings are turns that occur after the base adjacency pair that are related to the prior pair but do not launch a new topic or new business. They are treated as non-consequential by the participants, and are often produced as “out-louds” (Schegloff 1988: 117), or general reflections or assessments on previous talk. Oftentimes they are produced by a bystander or another participants who was not originally part of the base adjacency pair. An example from Schegloff 2007) is presented below.

[Pre-party, 11:23-33] (Schegloff 2007:143)

01  Deb:         [I don’t think I ever sent M]arcia
02        F->    a birth- a present for her baby did I?=or did we buy
03               something t’gether.
04               (0.3)
05  Deb:         Mo:m,
06  Ann:  S->    Yeah I think we di:d.
07  Deb:  SCT->  Oh:, good.
08               (1.2)
09  Fre:  PCM->  It’s the nicest thing t’remember when yer- (going over
10               a see her)
11               (1.2)
12  Dic:         It isn’t raining [very heavily (you know,)

In this example, Deb issues a first-pair part (line 2), and Ann responds (line 6). After Deb’s sequence-closing third (line 7), Fred issues a post-completion musing in lines 9-10. After the base adjacency pair and sequence-closing third, the sequence has moved to close, so Fred’s comment on the prior sequence constitutes a post-completion musing. Furthermore, it does not open any new talk or new first-pair part, as is true for all minimal post-expansion sequences. If a minimal post-expansion does not close the sequence, then the sequence is open to a non-minimal post expansion (Schegloff 2007: 148).

Additional Related Entries:

• Adjacency pair
• Insert expansion (sequence)
• Pre-expansion (sequence)
• First-pair part
• Second-pair part
• Sequence-closing third (SCT)
• Sequence

Cited References:

Clift, R. (2016). Conversation Analysis. Cambridge University Press.

Heritage, J. (1984). A change-of-state token and aspects of Its sequential placement. In J. M. Atkinson & John Heritage (Eds.), Structures of Social Action (pp. 299–345). Cambridge University Press.

Schegloff, E. A. (1988). Goffman and the Analysis of Conversation. In P. Drew & A. Wootton (Eds.), Erving Goffman: Exploring the Interaction Order (pp. 89-135). Polity Press.

Schegloff, E. A. (2007). Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis (Vol. 1). Cambridge University Press.

Additional References: