Well is an exemplary multi-functional word performing pragmatic and syntactic functions. That multi-functionality poses a potential problem: How do hearers in conversation determine which function is actualized and how do speakers project the function actualized? We address both questions… read more
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… read more
This paper is concerned with constructed dialog in conversational storytelling. Based on Clark & Gerrig’s (1990) demonstration theory, its focus is on what is absent from constructed dialog. To determine what is absent, a comparison is made between constructed dialog tokens and utterances in… read more
While overlap represents one of the major mainstays of conversation-analytic research, the phenomenon of overlap involving backchannels in TCU-initial position has largely gone unnoticed. This study addresses this gap focusing on backchannels occurring in overlap in storytelling interaction. The… read more
Pragmatics and corpus linguistics were long considered mutually exclusive. In recent years, however, common ground has been discovered thus paving the way for the new field of corpus pragmatics. This chapter shows that corpus pragmatics integrates the qualitative methodology typical of… read more
Recent analyses of written text types have discovered significant frequency increases of colloquial or conversational elements, such as contractions, personal pronouns, questions or the progressive. This trend is often referred to as colloquialization. This paper presents a new perspective on… read more
This paper investigates four different types of pauses in conversational narrative: the filled pauses er and erm, and short and long silent pauses. The study is based on the Narrative Corpus (NC), a recently created corpus of everyday narratives. The texts, which include both the narrative and some… read more
This paper investigates four different types of pauses in conversational narrative: the filled pauses er and erm, and short and long silent pauses. The study is based on the Narrative Corpus (NC), a recently created corpus of everyday narratives. The texts, which include both the narrative and some… read more
“situationally defined varieties” (Biber et al. 1999:5) have advanced the study of conversational grammar considerably. This paper questions the use of writing-based conceptual frameworks and terminologies in the description of conversational grammar. It is argued that conversation as the major… read more