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Part of
(Non)referentiality in Conversation
Edited by Michael C. Ewing and Ritva Laury
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 344] 2024
► pp. 35–55

Chapter 3
First and second person forms as resources for open reference and participation in Finnish everyday conversations

| Åbo Akademi University
| University of Turku
Based on data from Finnish conversational interaction, this article explores the use of 1st and 2nd person forms in creating deictically non-specific, open reference. We focus on the linguistic and embodied features of turns that contain these open personal forms and examine their sequential positioning. We show that the 1st and 2nd person forms that receive a deictically open interpretation typically occur in assessments, accounts of personal experience, and imaginary descriptions. They function as deictic displacements, shifting the origo of the speech situation, and causing a change of footing in the discourse roles, thus modulating the participation framework of the speech situation.
Keywords: Finnish, everyday conversation, first person singular, open reference, person expressions, participation framework, second person singular, referential index, deixis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
    • 2.1Open reference forms in grammar and interaction
    • 2.2Reference and participation
  • 3.Data and methods
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Sequential contexts and interactional functions
    • 4.2Linguistic features and embodied conduct
    • 4.3Modulating the participation framework
  • 5.Conclusions
  • References
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DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.344.03hel
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