Noun phrases in other-repetitions : Observations of Swedish talk-in-interaction

Abstract

This study examines noun phrases in a specific sequential context: other-repetitions in Swedish conversation, including everyday as well as institutional interaction. Repeating the previous speaker’s words can have various interactional functions, e.g., initiating repair, indicating surprise or challenge, or registering information. Our distributional results show that the NP is the typical item in repetition turns. The original structures targeted by repetitions vary from a single NP to clausal units housing NPs. The analysis shows that the identification of the interactional function of other-repetitions builds on their sequential position, prosodic design, and contextual information. Other-repetitions serve the general function of promoting intersubjectivity and participation in conversation, and the NP is demonstrably a central vehicle for this.