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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