1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics
  4. Volume 25, Issue 2
  5. Article
Volume 25, Issue 2
  • ISSN 1384-6655
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9811
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Turns-at-talk often do not start with their main business but rather with a pre-start (Sacks et al., 1974). This paper investigates the correlation of pre-starts with inserts, one of three major word classes (Biber et al., 1999). Based on the BNC’s mark-up, I investigate how inserts are positionally distributed in large amounts of turns of varied lengths. The analysis shows that inserts are overwhelmingly attracted to turn-first positions, the likely location of pre-starts. Further, in a subsample of 1,000 ten-word turns manually coded for pre-starts, 86% of all inserts serve a pre-start function. The findings call into question current speech processing models that fail to factor in turn structure. Further, pre-starts have crucial sequential and interactional implications as early indicators whether the new turn “agrees” with the prior turn and are likely key signals aiding listeners’ action ascription.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.19098.ruh
2020-08-28
2023-10-02

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.19098.ruh
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aijmer, K.
    (2013) Understanding Pragmatic Markers: A Variational Pragmatic Approach. Edinburgh University Press. 10.1515/9780748635511
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748635511 [Google Scholar]
  2. Aijmer, K., & Rühlemann, C.
    (Eds.) (2015) Corpus Pragmatics: A Handbook. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139057493
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139057493 [Google Scholar]
  3. Ameka, F.
    (1992) Interjections: The universal yet neglected part of speech. Journal of Pragmatics, 18(2–3), 101–118. 10.1016/0378‑2166(92)90048‑G
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(92)90048-G [Google Scholar]
  4. Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E.
    (1999) Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Pearson Education.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Boersma, P., & Weenink, D.
    (2012) Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer (Version 6.0.37) [Computer software]. www.praat.org/
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bögels, S., Kendrick, K. H., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2015) Never say no … How the brain interprets the pregnant pause in conversation. PLoS ONE, 10(12), e0145474. 10.1371/journal.pone.0145474
     https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0145474 [Google Scholar]
  7. Bögels, S., Magyari, L., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2015) Neural signatures of response planning occur midway through an incoming question in conversation. Scientific Reports, 5(12881), 1–11.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Brinton, L. J.
    (2010) Discourse markers. InA. H. Jucker & I. Taavitsainen (Eds.), Historical Pragmatics (pp.285–314). De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110214284.5.285
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214284.5.285 [Google Scholar]
  9. Buysse, L.
    (2012) So as a multifunctional discourse marker in native and learner speech. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(13), 1764–1782. 10.1016/j.pragma.2012.08.012
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.08.012 [Google Scholar]
  10. Carter, R. A., Hughes, R., & McCarthy, M. J.
    (2000) Exploring Grammar in Context. Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Clayman, S. E.
    (2013) Turn-constructional units and the transition-relevance place. InJ. Sidnell & T. Stivers (Eds.), The Handbook of Conversation Analysis (pp.150–166). Wiley Blackwell.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Couper-Kuhlen, E., & Selting, M.
    (2017) Interactional Linguistics: An Introduction to Language in Social Interaction. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781139507318
     https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139507318 [Google Scholar]
  13. Crystal, D.
    (2003) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Damian, M. F., Vigliocco, G., & Levelt, W. J. M.
    (2001) Effects of semantic context in the naming of pictures and words. Cognition, 81, B77–B86. 10.1016/S0010‑0277(01)00135‑4
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(01)00135-4 [Google Scholar]
  15. Diani, G.
    (2004) The discourse functions of I don’t know in English conversation. InK. Aijmer & B. Stenström. (Eds.), Discourse Patterns in Spoken and Written Corpora (pp.157–171). John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.120.11dia
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.120.11dia [Google Scholar]
  16. Evison, J.
    (2012) A corpus linguistic analysis of turn-openings in spoken academic discourse: Understanding discursive specialisation. English Profile Journal, 3(4), 1–24.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Fraser, B.
    (1990) An approach to discourse markers. Journal of Pragmatics, 14(3), 383–395. 10.1016/0378‑2166(90)90096‑V
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(90)90096-V [Google Scholar]
  18. Gisladottir, R. S., Bögels, S., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2018) Oscillatory brain responses reflect anticipation during comprehension of speech acts in spoken dialog. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 1–13. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00034
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Gumperz, J. J.
    (1992) Contextualization and understanding. InA. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon (pp.229–252). Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. (1996) The linguistic and cultural relativity of inference. InJ. J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking Linguistic Relativity. Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R.
    (1976) Cohesion in English. Longman.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Heldner, M., & Edlund, J.
    (2010) Pauses, gaps and overlaps in conversations. Journal of Phonetics, 38(4), 555–568. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2010.08.002
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Heritage, J.
    (1998) Oh-prefaced Responses to Inquiry. Language in Society, 27(3), 291–334. 10.1017/S0047404500019990
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500019990 [Google Scholar]
  24. (2013) Turn-initial position and some of its occupants. Journal of Pragmatics, 57, 331–337. 10.1016/j.pragma.2013.08.025
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.08.025 [Google Scholar]
  25. (2015) Well-prefaced turns in English conversation: A conversation analytic perspective. Journal of Pragmatics, 88, 88–104. 10.1016/j.pragma.2015.08.008
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.08.008 [Google Scholar]
  26. (2018) Turn-initial particles in English: The cases of and well. InJ. Heritage & M. L. Sorjonen (Eds.), Between Turn and Sequence: Turn-initial Particles across Languages (pp.155–189). John Benjamins. 10.1075/slsi.31.06her
     https://doi.org/10.1075/slsi.31.06her [Google Scholar]
  27. Heritage, J., & Sorjonen, M. L.
    (2018) Analyzing turn-initial particles. InJ. Heritage & M.-L. Sorjonen (Eds.), Between Turn and Sequence: Turn-initial Particles across Languages (pp.1–22). John Benjamins. 10.1075/slsi.31.01her
     https://doi.org/10.1075/slsi.31.01her [Google Scholar]
  28. Hoey, M.
    (2005) Lexical Priming: A New Theory of Words and Language. Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Hoffmann, S., Evert, S., Smith, N., Lee, D., & Berglund Prytz, Y.
    (2008) Corpus Linguistics with BNCweb: A Practical Guide. Peter Lang.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Holler, J., Kendrick, K. H., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2017) Processing language in face-to-face conversation: Questions with gestures get faster responses. Psychonometric Bulletin Review, 25, 1900–1918. 10.3758/s13423‑017‑1363‑z
     https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-017-1363-z [Google Scholar]
  31. Indefrey, P., & Levelt, W. J. M.
    (2004) The spatial and temporal signatures of word production components. Cognition, 92(1–2), 101–144. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2002.06.001
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Jefferson, G.
    (1973) A case of precision timing in ordinary conversation: Overlapped tag-positioned address terms in closing sequences. Semiotics, 9(1), 47–96.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. (1986) Notes on ‘latency’ in overlap onset. Human Studies, 9, 153–183. 10.1007/BF00148125
     https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148125 [Google Scholar]
  34. (2004) Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. InG. H. Lerner (Ed.), Conversation Analysis: Studies from the First Generation (pp.13–31). John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.125.02jef
     https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.125.02jef [Google Scholar]
  35. Jescheniak, J. D., & Levelt, W. J. M.
    (1994) Word frequency effects in speech production: Retrieval of syntactic information and of phonological form. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20(4), 824–843.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Jongman, S. R., Piai, V., & Meyer, A. S.
    (2019) Planning for language production: The electrophysiological signature of attention to the cue to speak. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience. Advance online publication. 10.1080/23273798.2019.1690153
     https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2019.1690153 [Google Scholar]
  37. Jucker, A. H.
    (1993) The discourse marker well: A relevance-theoretical account. Journal of Pragmatics, 19(5), 435–452. 10.1016/0378‑2166(93)90004‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(93)90004-9 [Google Scholar]
  38. De Klerk, V.
    (2005) Procedural meanings of well in a corpus of Xhosa English. Journal of Pragmatics, 37(8), 1183–1205. 10.1016/j.pragma.2004.11.001
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2004.11.001 [Google Scholar]
  39. Koivisto, A.
    (2012) Discourse patterns for turn-final conjunctions. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(10), 1254–1272. 10.1016/j.pragma.2012.05.006
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.05.006 [Google Scholar]
  40. Levelt, W. J. M., Praamstra, P., Meyer, A. S., Helenius, P., & Salmelin, R.
    (1998) An MEG study of picture naming. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 10(5), 553–567. 10.1162/089892998562960
     https://doi.org/10.1162/089892998562960 [Google Scholar]
  41. Levelt, W. J., Roelofs, A., & Meyer, A. S.
    (1999) A theory of lexical access in speech production. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22(1), 1–38. 10.1017/S0140525X99001776
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X99001776 [Google Scholar]
  42. Levinson, S. C.
    (2003) Contextualizing ‘contextualization cues’. InS. Eerdmans, C. Prevignano, & P. Thibault (Eds.), Language and Interaction: Discussions with John J. Gumperz (pp.31–39). John Benjamins. 10.1075/z.117.04lev
     https://doi.org/10.1075/z.117.04lev [Google Scholar]
  43. (1983) Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511813313
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813313 [Google Scholar]
  44. (2013) Action formation and ascription. InJ. Sidnell & T. Stivers (Eds.), The Handbook of Conversation Analysis (pp.103–130). Wiley Blackwell.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. (2016) Turn-taking in human communication: Origins and implications for language processing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(1), 6–14. 10.1016/j.tics.2015.10.010
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.10.010 [Google Scholar]
  46. Levinson, S. C., & Holler, J.
    (2014) The origin of human multi-modal communication. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 369(1651), 20130302. doi:  10.1098/rstb.2013.0302
     https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0302 [Google Scholar]
  47. Levinson, S. C., & Torreira, F.
    (2015) Timing in turn-taking and its implications for processing models of language. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(731), 1–17.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Mayes, P.
    (1990) Quotation in spoken English. Studies in Language, 14(2), 325–363. 10.1075/sl.14.2.04may
     https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.14.2.04may [Google Scholar]
  49. Magyari, L., Bastiaansen, M. C. M., de Ruiter, J. P., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2014) Early anticipation lies behind the speed of response in conversation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26(11), 2530–2539. 10.1162/jocn_a_00673
     https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00673 [Google Scholar]
  50. Mehl, M. R., Vazire, S., Ramirez-Esparza, N., Slatcher, R. B., & Pennebaker, J. W.
    (2007) Are women really more talkative than men?Science, 317(5834), 82. 10.1126/science.1139940
     https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139940 [Google Scholar]
  51. Norrick, N.
    (2009) Interjections as pragmatic markers. Journal of Pragmatics, 41(5), 866–891. 10.1016/j.pragma.2008.08.005
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2008.08.005 [Google Scholar]
  52. Ochs, E., Schegloff, E. A., & Thompson, S. A.
    (Eds.) (1996) Interaction and Grammar. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511620874
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620874 [Google Scholar]
  53. Oldfield, R. C., & Wingfield, A.
    (1965) Response latencies in naming objects. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 17, 273–28. 10.1080/17470216508416445
     https://doi.org/10.1080/17470216508416445 [Google Scholar]
  54. Pfeiffer, M.
    (2016) The deictic dimension of exclamations: On the use of wh-exclamatives in German face-to-face interaction. Revue de Sémantique et Pragmatique, 40, 35–57. 10.4000/rsp.288
     https://doi.org/10.4000/rsp.288 [Google Scholar]
  55. Pomerantz, A., & Heritage, J.
    (2013) Preference. InJ. Sidnell & T. Stivers (Eds.), The Handbook of Conversation Analysis (pp.210–228). Wiley Blackwell.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Rayson, P., Leech, G., & Hodges, M.
    (1997) Social differentiation in the use of English vocabulary: Some analyses of the conversational component of the British National Corpus. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 2(1), 133–152. 10.1075/ijcl.2.1.07ray
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.2.1.07ray [Google Scholar]
  57. Roberts, S. G., Torreira, F., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2015) The effects of processing and sequence organization on the timing of turn taking: a corpus study. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(509), 1–16.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Roberts, S. G., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2017) Conversation, cognition and cultural evolution: A model of the cultural evolution of word order through pressures imposed from turn taking in conversation. Interaction Studies, 18(3), 402–429. 10.1075/is.18.3.06rob
     https://doi.org/10.1075/is.18.3.06rob [Google Scholar]
  59. Rochmont, M., & Cullicover, P.
    (1990) English Focus Constructions and the Theory of Grammar. Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Romero-Trillo, J.
    (2018) Prosodic modeling and position analysis of pragmatic markers in English conversation. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 14, 169–195. 10.1515/cllt‑2014‑0026
     https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2014-0026 [Google Scholar]
  61. Rühlemann, C.
    (2013) Narrative in English Conversation: A Corpus Analysis. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139026987
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139026987 [Google Scholar]
  62. (2018a) Corpus Linguistics for Pragmatics. Routledge. 10.4324/9780429451072
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429451072 [Google Scholar]
  63. (2018b) How long does it take to say ‘well’? Evidence from the Audio BNC. Corpus Pragmatics, 3(1), 49–66. 10.1007/s41701‑018‑0046‑y
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s41701-018-0046-y [Google Scholar]
  64. (2018c) TCU-initial backchannel overlap in storytelling. Narrative Inquiry, 28(2), 257–279. 10.1075/ni.17060.ruh
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.17060.ruh [Google Scholar]
  65. (2020) Visual Linguistics with R: A Practical Introduction to Quantitative Interactional Linguistics. John Benjamins. 10.1075/z.228
     https://doi.org/10.1075/z.228 [Google Scholar]
  66. Rühlemann, C., & Gee, M.
    (2017) Conversation Analysis and the XML method. Gesprächsforschung, 18, 274–296.
     [Google Scholar]
  67. Rühlemann, C., & Schweinberger, M.
    (under review). Information in turns-at-talk: Modeling the placement of nuclear stress.
     [Google Scholar]
  68. Sacks, H.
    (1987) On the preference for agreement and contiguity in sequences in conversation. InG. Button & J. R. E. Lee (Eds.), Talk and Social Organisation. Multilingual Matters.
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G.
    (1974) A simplest systematics for the organisation of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50(4), 696–735. 10.1353/lan.1974.0010
     https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.1974.0010 [Google Scholar]
  70. Schegloff, E. A.
    (1996) Turn organization: One intersection of grammar and interaction. InE. Ochs, E. A. Schegloff, & S. A. Thompson (Eds.), Interaction and Grammar (pp.52–133). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511620874.002
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620874.002 [Google Scholar]
  71. Schegloff, E. A.
    (2000) Overlapping talk and the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language in Society, 29(1), 1-63. doi:  10.1017/S0047404500001019
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500001019 [Google Scholar]
  72. Schegloff, E. A., & Lerner, G. H.
    (2009) Beginning to respond: Well-prefaced responses to wh-questions. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 42(2), 91–115. 10.1080/08351810902864511
     https://doi.org/10.1080/08351810902864511 [Google Scholar]
  73. Schiffrin, D.
    (1985) Conversational coherence: The role of well. Language, 61(3), 640–667. 10.2307/414389
     https://doi.org/10.2307/414389 [Google Scholar]
  74. (1987) Discourse Markers. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511611841
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611841 [Google Scholar]
  75. Schleppegrell, M.
    (1991) Paratactic because. Journal of Pragmatics, 16(4), 323–337. 10.1016/0378‑2166(91)90085‑C
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(91)90085-C [Google Scholar]
  76. Sicoli, M., Stivers, T., Enfield, N. J., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2015) Marked initial pitch in questions signals marked communicative function. Language and Speech, 58, 204–223. 10.1177/0023830914529247
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0023830914529247 [Google Scholar]
  77. Stivers, T., Enfield, N. J., Brown, P., Englert, C., Hayashi, M., Heinemann, T., Hoymann, G., Rossano, F., de Ruiter, J. P., Yoon, K.-E., & Levinson, S. C.
    (2009) Universals and cultural variation in turn-taking in conversation. Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences. U.S.A.106(26), 10587–10592.
     [Google Scholar]
  78. Stubbs, M.
    (2002) Words and Phrases: Corpus Studies of Lexical Semantics. Blackwell.
     [Google Scholar]
  79. Svartvik, J.
    (1980) Well in conversation. InS. Greenbaum, G. Leech, & J. Svartvik (Eds.), Studies in English Linguistics: For Randolph Quirk (pp.167–177). Longman.
     [Google Scholar]
  80. Tao, H.
    (2003) Turn initiators in spoken English: A corpus-based approach to interaction and grammar. InP. Leistyna & C. F. Meyer (Eds.), Corpus Analysis: Language Structure and Language Use (pp.187–207). Rodopi. 10.1163/9789004334410_011
     https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004334410_011 [Google Scholar]
  81. Torreira, F., Bögels, S. & Levinson, S. C.
    (2015) Breathing for answering: The time course of response planning in conversation. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–11. doi:  10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00284
     https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00284 [Google Scholar]
  82. Tottie, G.
    (2015) Turn management and the fillers uh and um. InK. Aijmer & C. Rühlemann (Eds.), Corpus Pragmatics: A Handbook (pp.381–407). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139057493.021
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139057493.021 [Google Scholar]
  83. Vaughan, E., McCarthy, M., & Clancy, B.
    (2017) Vague category markers as turn-final items in Irish English. World Englishes, 36(2), 208–223. 10.1111/weng.12254
     https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12254 [Google Scholar]
  84. Yuan, J., M. Liberman, & Cieri, C.
    (2006) Towards an integrated understanding of speaking rate in conversation. In Interspeech 2006 – ICSLP (pp.541–544). Pittsburgh, PA. https://www.isca-speech.org/archive/archive_papers/interspeech_2006/i06_1795.pdf. 10.21437/Interspeech.2006‑204
     https://doi.org/10.21437/Interspeech.2006-204 [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.19098.ruh
Loading
Turn structure and inserts
International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 25, 186 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.19098.ruh
/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.19098.ruh
/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.19098.ruh
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): action ascription; contextualization cue; interjection; speech planning; textual colligation

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error