Chapter 7
The division of labor between the particles jah and jaa ‘yes’ as responses to requests
for confirmation in Estonian
This chapter examines the use of the Estonian particles jah and jaa ‘yes’
as responses to positively formulated requests for confirmation in ordinary interaction. We will show what actions these
particles perform, in which sequential contexts they are used, and whether they can be interpreted as equivalent or not. Our
analysis reveals that although both jah and jaa confirm the accuracy of the proposition
presented in the question, the particles are not equivalent. The most important difference between jah and
jaa lies in how the sequence continues after the response. After jah, the local sequence
is closed, while after jaa, the sequence is expanded by the questioner. By using jaa the
answerer indicates that the sequence is open for expansion and allows the interlocutor to choose how to continue. In addition,
the context of jaa is more limited and partially different from the context of jah. In the
case of jaa, the interactional stances of the interactants are systematically incongruent. Specifically, the
questioners express their non-neutral interactional stance in the expansion of the sequence, while the answers respond
neutrally or express a different interactional stance. Overall, jah could be classified as an ‘unmarked’
response particle which only confirms the question’s proposition, while jaa is pragmatically a more ‘marked’
particle used for ‘special purposes.’
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Confirmation-seeking polar questions and their responses in Estonian: An overview
- 3.Data and method
- 4.Analysis
- 4.1Jah: Confirming the accuracy of the proposition and closing the sequence
- 4.2Jaa: Confirming the accuracy of the proposition and implicating sequence expansion
- 5.Conclusions and discussion
-
Notes
-
References
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