Abstract for Word Repeats as Unit Ends
Turns-at-talk are fundamental units of
participation in talk-in-interaction, and
turn-constructional units (TCUs) are the basic
building blocks for turns. Possible completion of
a TCU is, in principle, the possible completion
of the turn, but multi-unit turns are not
uncommon, and participants have practices for
constructing multi-unit turns and for recognizing
them in the course of their production. This
article offers an account of one practice (and
several of its variants) usable by speakers and
recipients to convey and recognize the designed
completion of a multi-TCU turn and/or a multi-
turn sequence in which ‘answering’ is being done:
returning to, or ‘re-using’, a word or phrase
from the start of the turn or sequence, whether
articulated by same or different speaker, whether
used to refer to same or different referents.
This practice is one of the resources by which
the overall structural organization of an
interactional unit and its local realization are
mutually realized.
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