Chapter 14
Turn-initial naja in German
This paper investigates the German token naja in
turn initial position in everyday conversation. The paper makes the
argument that naja is produced in situations when
speakers are negotiating some form of break with prior utterances in
the interaction: Prior
research has indicated that in second-pair parts,
naja prefaces disagreements. The current paper
shows that naja is also used in initiating actions
that serve to return to a previous sequence that was not brought to
completion due to actions by the coparticipant(s) or outsiders of
the interaction. In addition, naja is used in third
position turns in which speakers are backing down from a previously
held position. In initiating actions and third positions,
naja serves to indicate the break and
simultaneously initiates actions to overcome it. The findings hold
both for cases in which subsequent talk is prosodically integrated
to naja and the cases in which
naja is not prosodically integrated to the
subsequent talk.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Prior research on turn-initial tokens in German
- 3.Data
- 4.Stand-alone naja
- 5.
Naja in turn-initial position of initiating
actions
- 6.
Naja in second-pair parts
- 7.
Naja in turn-initial position in third position
turns
- 8.
Concluding discussion
-
Acknowledgements
-
Notes
-
References
References
Auer, Peter, and Yael Maschler
2016 “
The Family of NU and NÅ across the Languages and
beyond: Structure, Function, and History.” In
NU/NÅ: A Family of Discourse Markers Across the
Languages of Europe and Beyond, ed. by
Peter Auer, and
Yael Maschler, 1–47. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Auer, Peter, and Susanne Uhmann
1982 “
Aspekte der konversationellen
Organisation von Bewertungen [Aspects of the Conversational
Organisation of Assessments].”
Deutsche Sprache, 10: 1–32.
Barske, Tobias
2009 “
Same Token, Different Actions: A Conversation
Analytic Study of Social Roles, Embodied Actions, and ‘ok’ in
German Business Meetings.”
Journal for Business Communication 46 (1):120–149.
Barske, Tobias, and Andrea Golato
2010 “
German Turn-Intial ‘so’: Managing Squence and
Action.”
Text & Talk 30 (3):245–266.
Barth-Weingarten, Dagmar
2011 “
Double Sayings of German ‘ja’ – More Observations
on Their Prosodic-Phonetic Make-up and Alignment
Function.”
Research on Language and Social Interaction 44 (2):1–29.
Beach, Wayne
1993 “
Transitional Regularities for ‘Casual’ ‘okay’
Usages.”
Journal of Pragmatics 19:45–72.
Bolden, Galina
2009 “
Implementing Incipient Actions: The Discourse
Marker ‘so’ in English Conversation.”
Journal of Pragmatics 41 (5):974–998.
Bredel, Ursula
2000 “
‘Ach so‘ – Eine Rekonstruktion aus
funktional-pragmatischer Perspektive [‚Ach so‘ – A Reconstruction from a
Functional-Pragmatic Perspective].”
Linguistische Berichte 184:401–421.
De Stefani, Elwys, and Anne-Sylvie Horlacher
Deppermann, Arnulf
2012 “
Turn-Design at Turn-Beginnings: Multimodal
Resources to Deal with Tasks of Turn-Construction in
German.”
Journal of Pragmatics 46:91–121.
Deppermann, Arnulf, and Henrike Helmer
2013 “
Zur Grammatik des Verstehens im
Gespräch: Inferenzen anzeigen und Handlungskonsequenzen
ziehen mit ‚also‘ und ‚dann‘ [On the Grammar of Understanding in
Conversation: Indicating Inferences and Deducing
Implications for Action with ,also’ and ,dann’].
Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 32 (1):1–39.
Duden
1999 Das groβe Wörterbuch der deutschen
Sprache [
The Comprehensive Dictionary of the
German Language]. Mannheim/Leipzig/Wien/Zürich: Dudenverlag.
Durrell, Martin
1992 Using German: A Guide to Contemporary Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Franck, Dorothea
1980 Grammatik und Konversation [
Grammar and
Conversation]. Königstein/Ts.: Scriptor.
Golato, Andrea
2006 “
Action and Topic Shifts in Conversation: The Case
of 3rd-Position naja in German.” Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the National Communication
Association, San Antonio, TX,
November 16–19 2006.
Golato, Andrea
2010 “
Marking Understanding versus Receipting
Information in Talk: Achso and ach in German
Interaction.”
Discourse Studies 12 (2):147–176.
Golato, Andrea
2011 “
Appreciatory Sounds and Expressions of Embodied
Pleasure Used as Compliments.” In
Pragmatics of Society, ed. by
Karin Aijmer, and
Gisle Anderson, 359–390. Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter.
Golato, Andrea, and Emma Betz
2008 “
German ‘ach’ and ‘achso’ in Repair Uptake: A
Resource to Sustain or Remove Epistemic
Asymmetry.”
Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 27:7–37.
Golato, Andrea, and Zsuzsanna Fagyal
2008 “
Comparing Single and Double Sayings of the German
Response Token ‘ja’ and the Role of Prosody – A Conversation
Analytic Perspective”
Research on Language and Social Interaction 41 (3):1–30.
Haakana, Markku
2001 “
Laughter as a Patientʹs Resource: Dealing with
Delicate Aspects of Medical Interaction.”
Text 21 (1):187–219.
Harren, Inga
2001 “Ne?” in Alltagsgesprächen – Interaktive
Funktionen und Positionierung in Turn und Sequenz [
,Ne?‘ in Everyday Conversation –
Interactive Functions and Positions in Turn and
Sequence]. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg.
Harren, Inga, andMia Raitaniemi
2008 “
The Sequential Structure of Closings in Private
German Phone Calls.”
Gesprächsforschung. Online-Zeitschrift zur verbalen
Interaktion 9:198–223.
Heinemann, Trine
2009 “
Two Answers to Inapposite
Inquiries.” In
Conversation Analysis: Comparative Perspectives, ed. by
Jack Sidnell, 159–186. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heinemann, Trine, Anna Lindström, and Jacob Steensig
2011 “
Addressing Epistemic Incongruence in
Question-Answer Sequences Through the Use of Epistemic
Adverbs.” In
The Morality of Knowledge in Conversation, ed. by
Tanya Stivers,
Lorenza Mondada, and
Jakob Steensig, 107–130. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heritage, John
1984 “
A Change-of-State Token and Aspects of its
Sequential Placement.” In
Structures of Social Action. Studies in Conversation
Analysis, ed. by
J. Maxwell Atkinson, and
John Heritage, 299–345. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heritage, John
1998 “
Oh-Prefaced Responses to Inquiry.”
Language in Society 27:291–334.
Heritage, John
2002 “
Oh-Prefaced Responses to Assessments: A Method of
Modifying Agreement/Disagreement.” In
The Language of Turn and Sequence, ed. by
Cecilia Ford,
Barbara Fox, and
Sandra Thompson, 196–224. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Heritage, John
2013 “
Turn-Initial Position and Some of Its
Occupants.”
Journal of Pragmatics 57:331–337.
Heritage, John
2015 “
Well-Prefaced Turns in English Conversation: A
Conversation Analytic Perspective.”
Journal of Pragmatics 88:88–104.
Jefferson, Gail
1972 “
Side Sequences.” In
Studies in Social Interaction, ed. by
David Sudnow, 294–338. New York: The Free Press.
Jefferson, Gail
1981a Caveat Speaker a Preliminary Exploration of Shift
Implicative Articulation of Topic. Final report to the British SSRC.
Jefferson, Gail
1981b The Abominable ‘Ne?’: A Working Paper Exploring the
Phenomenon of Post-Response Pursuit of Response. Occasional Paper No.6, Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, Manchester, England.
Jefferson, Gail
1984 “
On Stepwise Transition from Talk about a Trouble
to Inappropriately Next-Positioned Matters.” In
Structures of Social Action. Studies in Conversation
Analysis, ed. by
J. Maxwell Atkinson, and
John Heritage, 191–222. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kluge
2002 Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen
Sprache [
Etymological Dictionary of the
German Language].(24th ed. ed.). Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Koivisto, Aino
2015 “
Displaying Now-Understanding: The Finnish
Change-of-State Token aa
.”
Discourse Processes 5(2):111–148.
Lütten, Jutta
1979 “
Die Rolle der Partikeln ‚doch‘,
‚eben‘, und ‚ja‘ als Konsens-Konstitutiva in gesprochener
Sprache [The Role of the Particles ,doch‘,
,eben‘, and ,ja‘ as consensus constituents in Spoken
Language].” In
Die Partikeln der deutschen Sprache, ed. by
Harald Weydt, 30–38. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Mazeland, Harrie
2007 “
Parenthetical Sequences’.”
Journal of Pragmatics 39 (10):1816–1869.
Mazeland, Harrie, and Mike Huiskes
Möllering, Martina
2001 “
Teaching German Modal Particles: A Corpus-Based
Approach.”
Language Learning & Technology 5 (3):130–151.
Mori, Junko
2006 “
The Workings of the Japanese Token hee in
Informing Sequences: An Analysis of Sequential Context, Turn
Shape, and Prosody.”
Journal of Pragmatics 38:1175–1205.
Pomerantz, Anita
1986 “
Extreme Case Formulations: A Way of Legitimizing
Claims.”
Human Studies 9 (2–4):210–229.
Schegloff, Emanuel A.
1987 “
Recycled Turn Beginnings: A Precise Repair
Mechanism in Conversationʹs Turn-Taking
Organisation.” In
Talk and Social Organization, ed. by
Graham Button, and
John R. E. Lee, 70–85. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Schegloff, Emanuel A.
2007 Sequence Organization in Interaction. A Primer in
Conversation Analysis (Vol. 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sorjonen, Marja-Leena, and Heidi Vepsäläinen
2016 “
The Finnish Particle No
.” In
NU/NÅ: A Family of Discourse Markers Across the
Languages of Europe and Beyond, ed. by
Peter Auer, and
Yael Maschler, 243–280. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Stivers, Tanya
2004 “
’No no no’ and Other Types of Multiple Sayings in
Social Interaction.”
Human Communication Research 30 (2):260–293.
Stivers, Tanya
2008 “
Stance, Alignment, and Affiliation during
Storytelling: When Nodding is a Token of
Affiliation.”
Research on Language and Social Interaction 41(1):31–57.
Sutinen, Marika
2014 “
Negotiating Favourable Conditions for Resuming
Suspended Activities.” In
Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond
Multitasking, ed. by
Pentti Haddington,
Tina Keisamen,
Lorenza Mondada, and
Maurice Nevile, 137–166. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Thurmair, Maria
1989 Modalpartikeln und ihre
Kombinationen [
Modal Particles and their
Combinations]. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate
(ed.) 2000 Wahrig Deutsches Wörterbuch [
Wahrig German
Dictionary]. (7th ed.). Gütersloh/München: Bertelsmann Lexikon Institut.
Willkop, Eva-Maria
1988 Gliederungspartikeln im Dialog [
Structuring Particles in Spoken
Language]. München: Iudicium.
Zifonun, Gisela, Ludger Hoffmann, and Bruno Strecker
1997 Grammatik der deutschen Sprache [
Grammar of the German
Language]. (vol. 3) Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
Cited by
Cited by 3 other publications
Brackhane, Fabian & Christiane Ruhrmann
2022.
Beobachtungen zu [nja] in deutscher Spontansprache.
Zeitschrift für Angewandte Linguistik 2022:77
► pp. 220 ff.
Taleghani-Nikazm, Carmen, Veronika Drake, Andrea Golato & Emma Betz
Tůma, František, Leila Kääntä & Teppo Jakonen
2023.
L2 grammar‐for‐interaction: Functions of “and”‐prefaced turns in L2 students’ collaborative talk.
The Modern Language Journal 107:4
► pp. 991 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.