Understanding ‘clause’ as an emergent ‘unit’ in everyday conversation
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Sandra A. Thompson
Abstract
Linguists generally assume ‘clause’ to be a basic unit for the analysis of grammatical structure. Data from natural conversations, however, suggests that ‘clause’ may not be grammaticized to the same extent across languages. Understanding ‘clause’ as a predicate (plus any arguments, inferred or expressed), we can show that participants do indeed organize their talk around ‘clauses’. I argue that English-speaking participants in everyday interaction do indeed orient to clausal units as so defined, by building their turns around predicates, and that these turns do key interactional work. The data further reveal that these units must be understood as emergent structures, recurrent patterns in a given language that emerge from humans pursuing their ordinary interactional business of communicating information, needs, identities, attitudes, and desires.
Abstract
Linguists generally assume ‘clause’ to be a basic unit for the analysis of grammatical structure. Data from natural conversations, however, suggests that ‘clause’ may not be grammaticized to the same extent across languages. Understanding ‘clause’ as a predicate (plus any arguments, inferred or expressed), we can show that participants do indeed organize their talk around ‘clauses’. I argue that English-speaking participants in everyday interaction do indeed orient to clausal units as so defined, by building their turns around predicates, and that these turns do key interactional work. The data further reveal that these units must be understood as emergent structures, recurrent patterns in a given language that emerge from humans pursuing their ordinary interactional business of communicating information, needs, identities, attitudes, and desires.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- On the notion of unit in the study of human languages 1
- Understanding ‘clause’ as an emergent ‘unit’ in everyday conversation 11
- Linguistic units and their systems 39
- Free NPs as units in Finnish 59
- Referring expressions in categorizing activities 87
- Questioning the clause as a crosslinguistic unit in grammar and interaction 123
- The predicate as a locus of grammar and interaction in colloquial Indonesian 161
- Index 203
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- On the notion of unit in the study of human languages 1
- Understanding ‘clause’ as an emergent ‘unit’ in everyday conversation 11
- Linguistic units and their systems 39
- Free NPs as units in Finnish 59
- Referring expressions in categorizing activities 87
- Questioning the clause as a crosslinguistic unit in grammar and interaction 123
- The predicate as a locus of grammar and interaction in colloquial Indonesian 161
- Index 203
