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Pragmatics: Online-First Articles

The use of the non-lexical sound öö in Hungarian same-turn self-repair

ORCID logo | University of Szeged | MTA-SZTE-DE Research Group for Theoretical Linguistics and Informatics
This paper explores the use of the non-lexical schwa-like sound öö in three Hungarian self-initiated same-turn self-repair phenomena, namely, searching, replacing, and searching converted into aborting. Since self-repair inherently prevents the turn from progressing towards possible completion, by deploying the non-lexical öö in the course of the three repair operations, speakers can vocalize and promise continuation without producing lexical elements. Öö thus serves as a delaying technique and an indication that the speaker is aware of the obligation to make the unit-under-way recognizably complete, and is ready to satisfy this obligation. When the turn-in-progress is halted and verbally marked with öö in the course of the three repair operations under investigation, the speaker displays to the other participants that the turn is problematic in some respects, but she is ready to attend to the problem in order to produce a recognizably complete action.
Keywords: conversation, non-lexical, hesitation, self-repair, replacing, searching, aborting, Hungarian
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Theoretical background and aims of the paper
  • 2.The Hungarian dataset and the methodology of the study
  • 3.The role of öö in the repair operations of searching, searching converted into aborting, and replacing in Hungarian conversations
    • 3.1Searching for a word
    • 3.2The [conjunction + öö + clause] technique: Searching for a clause
    • 3.3Searching converted into aborting
    • 3.4The use of öö in the repair operation of replacing
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 18 April 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.23019.nem
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