A study of repeat-formatted repair initiations in Mandarin Chinese
conversation
Using the methodology of Conversation Analysis (or CA), this
study examines three types of other-initiated repair initiators (henceforth OIs)
that repeats some element in the trouble-source (henceforth repeats) in Chinese
conversation: repeats suffixed with question particles ma (吗),
repeats suffixed with question particles a (啊), and
question-intonated repeats. It attempts to explore the differences between these
typical formats, in terms of their forms/functions and the epistemic stance of
the speaker who initiates repair. The main research findings indicate that
question-intonated repeat implements an understanding check while repeat
suffixed with question particles (ma or a)
tends to serve different functions, in that, ma-suffixed repeat
is inquiry-implicated while a-suffixed repeat contributes to
constructing surprise, (dis)agreement or (dis)belief.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Preliminary work on formats of OIs
- 3.Data and analysis
- 3.1The forms and functions of these OI formats
- 3.2Differing epistemic stance displayed by repeat-formatted OIs
- 3.3Repeat-formatted OIs as stance-alignment resources
- 4.Conclusion and further discussion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
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