Abstract for Some other 'uh(m)'s

Recent work on the occurrence of “uh” and “uhm”
in ordinary talk-in-interaction is concerned 
almost exclusively with its relation to trouble 
in the speech production process. After touching
briefly on this environment of occurrence, this
conversation-analytic article focuses attention 
on several interactional environments in which 
“uh(m)” figures in other ways—most extensively 
on its use to indicate the “reason-for-the-
interaction’s-launching.” The underlying theme 
is that accounts for what gets done and gets 
understood in talk-in-interaction must take into
account not only its composition, but also its 
position—not only with respect to the grammar of
sentences, but also with respect to the 
organization of turns at talk, of action 
sequences encompassing multiple turns at talk, 
and of occasions of talk, all of which are 
demonstrably oriented to by speakers in their 
production of the talk and by recipients in their
analyzing of the talk.


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