Chapter 6. Asserting no-problemness in Spanish
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Chase Wesley Raymond
Abstract
While much is known about noun phrases from morphosyntactic and typological perspectives, the study of nominal elements in interaction is just beginning. We contribute to this new area by exploring the interactional functions of the Spanish indefinite determiner ningún (‘any’, ‘no’) in the formula No hay (ningún) problema (‘there isn’t (any) problem’). We find that action and sequential environment are crucial in distinguishing between speakers’ uses of the noun phrases problema and ningún problema, with the determiner deployed to upgrade the assertion of no-problemness compared to the version without the determiner. We use our analysis of these particular formulae to offer a theoretical and methodological contribution to the study of noun phrases in interaction, focusing on the generalizability of findings.
Abstract
While much is known about noun phrases from morphosyntactic and typological perspectives, the study of nominal elements in interaction is just beginning. We contribute to this new area by exploring the interactional functions of the Spanish indefinite determiner ningún (‘any’, ‘no’) in the formula No hay (ningún) problema (‘there isn’t (any) problem’). We find that action and sequential environment are crucial in distinguishing between speakers’ uses of the noun phrases problema and ningún problema, with the determiner deployed to upgrade the assertion of no-problemness compared to the version without the determiner. We use our analysis of these particular formulae to offer a theoretical and methodological contribution to the study of noun phrases in interaction, focusing on the generalizability of findings.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Languages from Europe
- Chapter 2. The Finnish se että initiated expressions 11
- Chapter 3. Emergent complex noun phrases 43
- Chapter 4. The noun phrase as an emergent unit in Finnish 71
- Chapter 5. Noun phrases in other-repetitions 93
- Chapter 6. Asserting no-problemness in Spanish 119
- Chapter 7. Multimodal noun phrases 153
- Chapter 8. Nouns and noun phrases in other-initiated repair in English atypical interaction 179
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Part II. Languages from other parts of the world
- Chapter 9. Multiple nominal expressions in Garrwa conversation 211
- Chapter 10. The pragmatics of ‘light nouns’ in Besemah 237
- Chapter 11. NP clustering in Mandarin conversational interaction 271
- Chapter 12. What can Japanese conversation tell us about ‘NP’? 315
- Chapter 13. Robust argument phrases (DPs) but unruly NPs in Maa 329
- Index 363
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Languages from Europe
- Chapter 2. The Finnish se että initiated expressions 11
- Chapter 3. Emergent complex noun phrases 43
- Chapter 4. The noun phrase as an emergent unit in Finnish 71
- Chapter 5. Noun phrases in other-repetitions 93
- Chapter 6. Asserting no-problemness in Spanish 119
- Chapter 7. Multimodal noun phrases 153
- Chapter 8. Nouns and noun phrases in other-initiated repair in English atypical interaction 179
-
Part II. Languages from other parts of the world
- Chapter 9. Multiple nominal expressions in Garrwa conversation 211
- Chapter 10. The pragmatics of ‘light nouns’ in Besemah 237
- Chapter 11. NP clustering in Mandarin conversational interaction 271
- Chapter 12. What can Japanese conversation tell us about ‘NP’? 315
- Chapter 13. Robust argument phrases (DPs) but unruly NPs in Maa 329
- Index 363
