Conversation and Grammar: A Conversation-Analytic Approach to Korean Conversation

Abstract. The last decade has seen considerable research on conversation and grammar, influenced by the conversation-analytic research of Sacks et al. (1974). Inspired by that line of research, some Korean linguists have examined conversation by adopting the assumptions and methodology of conversation analysis (CA) into discourse analysis. This study introduces basic assumptions and research topics relating to CA, and explores the possibility of adopting CA methodology into dis-course analysis in Korean linguistics. This paper first provides a brief overview of basic assumptions, methodology, and major research topics of CA and the development of conversation-analytic dis-course studies. Then it provides a brief overview of some major findings and research topics in the interaction-based studies which have dealt with conversational data in Korean linguistics in terms of: (i) turn-taking, turn-constructional units, and turn increments, (ii) interactional functions of certain clausal connectives and sentence-ending suffixes, and (iii) other interaction-based studies on such topics as repair, demonstratives, reported speech, and so on. This research discusses how interaction-based research can provide a new way of viewing language functions; it explores: (i) turn-taking and co-construction; (ii) word-order variability, turn increments, repair, and retroactive elaboration; (iii) a conversation-analytic approach to the clausal connective -nuntey, and (iv) an interactional ap-proach to the verbal affixes -ese and -nikka in conversation, among others. Overall, this paper shows what has been, and needs to be, studied regarding the relationship between conversation, social action, and grammar in conversation in Korean linguistics.