SLAVICA HELSINGIENSIA
46
FINNISH AND RUSSIAN AS LINGUA FRANCAS
JOINT ACTIVITY IN CONVERSATIONS
Merja Pikkarainen
HELSINKI 2015
SLAVICA HELSINGIENSIA 46
Series editors
Tomi Huttunen, Jouko Lindstedt, Ahti Nikunlassi
Published by:
Department of Modern Languages
P.O. Box 24 (Unioninkatu 40 B)
00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
Copyright © by Merja Pikkarainen
ISBN 978-951-51-0269-0 (paperback)
ISBN 978-951-51-0270-6 (PDF)
ISSN-L 0780-3281, ISSN 0780-3281 (Print), ISSN 1799-5779 (Online)
Cover design:
Laura Vainio
Printed by:
Unigrafia
Abstract
This study analyses the language use of non-native speakers of Finnish and
non-native speakers of Russian by exploring the joint activity by two or
more participants in authentic conversations. More specifically, the present
focus is on word searches, collaborative productions and candidate
understandings. Although these structures have been claimed to be similar
phenomena, they also have different characteristics.
The data of this study consist of approximately 11 hours of naturally
occurring conversations in a range of everyday and institutional situations in
Finnish and Russian. The methodological framework adopted for this
analysis is interactional linguistics, which focusses on analysing the
language use in naturally occurring interaction. Interactional linguistics can
be defined as a part of linguistics that originates from different types of
functional orientations (conversation analysis, functional linguistics, and
anthropological linguistics). However, the main analytical tools for this
study are provided by the methodology of conversation analysis.
A typical collaborative production consists of a preliminary component
that is produced without any specific hesitations or perturbations, and of a
final component that fits syntactically, prosodically and semantically with
the preliminary component. For example, a preliminary component can
consist of a subject + verb combination and a final component contains a
complement (in a broad sense). A typical word search can be initiated with
pauses or hesitations, or with specific questions. In these cases, the coparticipant is considered to be a knowledgeable partner. With respect to both
collaborative productions and word searches, either the initiator of the word
search, or the speaker who produced the preliminary component, has an
opportunity to evaluate the suggested word or the final component that the
recipient produces. When comparing collaborative productions and word
searches, the candidate understandings fall somewhere in the middle.
Interactionally, candidate understandings are used to check the recipient’s
interpretation of the prior and to maintain mutual understanding.
All three types of joint activity emphasize the willingness of the
participants to cooperate and the fact that although the language used is
foreign to all of the participants, the interaction need not be problematic. On
the contrary, it would seem that since no native speakers are present, the
conversations become relaxed. The data shows that the resources of these
two lingua francas are utilised somewhat differently. The Finnish data
consist of proportionally more searches that concentrate on grammatical
issues than the Russian data. On the other hand, candidate understandings
are more common in the Russian data. These differences can be due to the
participants’ different linguistic backgrounds. The lingua franca speakers of
Russian may have a more native-speaker relation to the Russian language in
that they do not consider the grammatical appropriateness to be as important
as the lingua franca users of Finnish.
Aluksi – Предисловие
Tämä väitöstutkimus ei olisi ollut mahdollinen ilman monien ihmisten
tukea. Kiitos teille kaikille, jotka olette olleet mukana matkalla!
Suurin kiitos kuuluu ohjaajalleni, professori Arto Mustajoelle, jonka
kanssa minulla on ollut ilo käydä vuosien varrella monta mielenkiintoista
keskustelua ja ohjaustuokiota. Kiitos, Arto, että otit minut mukaan Suomen
Akatemian lingua franca -projektiin. Kiitos, että olet antanut minun miettiä
asioita rauhassa ja tarpeen vaatiessa ohjannut taas eteenpäin. Toivottavasti
keskustelut kielten ja kommunikaation kiehtovista kiemuroista jatkuvat
tulevaisuudessakin.
Я хочу также выразить сердечную благодарность доктору
педагогических наук Екатерине Юрьевне Протасовой за ценные
советы, критические замечания и всевозможную поддержку во время
проведения исследовательской работы.
Emil Aaltosen Säätiölle esitän mitä syvimmät kiitokset vuosina 2012 ja
2013 myönnetystä tuesta, joka on mahdollistanut väitöstutkimukseen
keskittymisen.
Я выражаю искреннюю признательность своим рецензентам,
доктору филологических наук Марике Калюга и профессору Николаю
Борисовичу Вахтину за множество полезных советов, замечаний и
рекомендаций на заключительной стадии работы. Само собой
разумеется, что за все возможные ошибки и недостатки в этой книге
отвечает сам автор.
Я выражаю особую благодарность всем коллегам, с которыми я
встречалась на разных этапах работы над диссертацией. В особенности
хочу поблагодарить участников аспирантского семинара, а также всех
сотрудников Кафедры русского языка и литературы. Kanssanne on ollut
ilo tehdä töitä!
Tutkimuksen teon alkuvaiheessa sain vertaistukea Venäjän kielen ja
kirjallisuuden oppiaineen jatko-opiskelijoilta. Kiitos, meidän oma
aspiranttiporukkamme Hanna Laitinen, Olga Pussinen, Anu Reponen ja
Ilona Sammalkorpi! Slaavilaisen filologian puolella haluan esittää kiitokseni
Max Wahlströmille, jolla on aina aikaa pohdinnoille ja Johanna Virkkulalle,
joka jakoi vastaväitelleenä ystävällisesti tietämystään väitösvalmisteluista ja
auttoi väitöskirjan teknisessä toteutuksessa.
Ystävät kalliit, teitä on niin paljon! Sanni, olet maailman paras tauottaja.
Kaisa, Satu, Anna ja Marina, olette vieneet ajatuksia muualle. Ehkä ehdin
jatkossa taas keikoille ja muihin rientoihin. Venäjä ja venäjä ovat olleet läsnä
elämässäni myös muiden kuin opiskelujen merkeissä. Kiitos ja kumarrus
kaikille vuosien varrella menossa pyörineille. Дорогие друзья и в
Финляндии и в России, спасибо вам всем поддержку! До скорой
встречи!
Suuri kiitos Kuhmo-osastolle! Kiitos äiti ja isä, että olette tarjonneet
muutakin ajateltavaa kuin väitöskirja ja pitäneet huolta siitä, että Etelän
ihmisen ei ole tarvinnut vapaa-ajallaankaan kärsiä tekemisen puutteesta.
Mikko, Merja ja ihanat pikkutytöt, toivottavasti näemme tulevaisuudessa
useammin. Pekka, sinuakin näkisi mielellään enemmän. Mari, olet tuki ja
turva isosiskollesi.
Kiitos, Jalmari-armaani! Sinä tulit elämääni ja jäit.
Yksi kiiteltävistä on jo poistunut keskuudestamme, mutta hän elää
edelleen muistoissamme. Omistankin tämän väitöskirjan edesmenneelle
mummulleni Rauni Piiraiselle (o.s. Huusko, 1922–2009).
Kanta-Hämeessä, Mommilassa 18.12.2014
Merja Pikkarainen
Table of contents
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ 3
ALUKSI – ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ ................................................................................. 5
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 10
1.1 The subject of the study and research questions ..................................... 10
1.2 The theoretical and methodological framework ..................................... 16
1.3 The structure of the study ...................................................................... 22
2 RESEARCH ON ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA
AND NON-STANDARD FORMS OF RUSSIAN ........................................................ 23
2.1 English as a Lingua Franca .................................................................... 24
2.2 Diaspora Russian and Colloquial Russian .............................................. 30
3 PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND KEY CONCEPTS ................................................... 40
3.1 Organisation of turn-taking in relation to collaborative productions ...... 40
3.1.1 Compound-TCU, secondary TRP .................................................... 44
3.1.2 Formal aspects and functional aspects ............................................. 47
3.1.3 Co-constructions and increments ..................................................... 48
3.2 Repair organisation in relation to word searches .................................... 50
3.2.1 Who repairs and under what circumstances?.................................... 51
3.2.2 Candidate understandings – somewhere in between word searches
and collaborative productions ................................................................... 57
4 DATA AND TRANSCRIPTION .......................................................................... 60
4.1 Finnish data ........................................................................................... 62
7
4.2 Russian data .......................................................................................... 65
4.3 Discourse transcription, interlinear gloss, and translation ...................... 66
5 COLLABORATIVE PRODUCTIONS ................................................................. 69
5.1 Previous research on collaborative productions ..................................... 69
5.2 Participants co-construct a phrase or a clause ........................................ 72
5.2.1 Co-ordinated words and phrases ...................................................... 72
5.2.2 Agreement within phrases ............................................................... 78
5.2.3 Subject NP and the predicate verb ................................................... 83
5.2.4 Objects, other complements required by predicate verbs, and
predicatives .............................................................................................. 87
5.2.5 The semantic motivation that triggers collaborative productions:
the Finnish verb mennä, ‘to go’ + direction .............................................. 98
5.3 Participants co-construct a complex sentence ...................................... 101
5.4 Summary ............................................................................................. 107
6 WORD SEARCHES ...................................................................................... 109
6.1 Previous research on word searches ..................................................... 109
6.2 How speakers indicate that there is a problem? ................................... 111
6.2.1 Pauses and hesitations that indicate a word search......................... 113
6.2.2 The use of the spoken lingua franca .............................................. 120
6.2.3 Loan word examples ..................................................................... 126
6.3 Actual resolving of the search.............................................................. 135
6.3.1 Direct offer, one word ................................................................... 135
6.3.2 Prolonged search sequences .......................................................... 138
6.4 Reaction to the resolution .................................................................... 146
6.4.1 The original speaker repeats or
otherwise accepts the offered word ........................................................ 146
6.4.2 Original speaker continues directly ............................................... 151
6.4.3 Either the co-participant continues or the continuation is longer.... 153
8
6.5 Unsolved cases .................................................................................... 155
6.6 Summary ............................................................................................. 156
7 CANDIDATE UNDERSTANDINGS – SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE? ................ 159
7.1 Full clauses .......................................................................................... 160
7.2 Noun phrases ....................................................................................... 170
7.3 Summary ............................................................................................. 174
8 CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY............................. 176
8.1 Collaborative productions and word searches ...................................... 176
8.2 Further research ................................................................................... 181
REFERENCES ................................................................................................ 184
APPENDIX ..................................................................................................... 199
9
1 Introduction
1.1 The subject of the study and research questions
The main objective of this dissertation is to describe how the non-native
Finnish and non-native Russian languages are used in authentic
conversations by non-native speakers. Even though the language adopted in
these conversations is non-native to the participants, they are nevertheless
able to interact and communicate. More specifically, I am interested in the
interactional phenomena in these types of conversations, such as how
participants in conversation co-construct different types of structures and
how they themselves orient to these collaborations. For example, how does a
participant indicate that he or she is missing a word and how do the other
participants help in finding that word or item? Nonetheless, an exchange
between speakers can also occur without any explicit sign of problems
arising in their utterances. My aim is to observe and describe the relation
between the linguistic and conversational structures.
This study explores the structures that are jointly produced by two or
more participants during their conversations. The main focus of this study is
on word searches (for example, see Helasvuo et al. 2004, Kurhila 2006),
collaborative productions (for example, see Helasvuo 2004; Lerner 1991,
1996, 2004a; Szczepek 2000a, 2000b) and candidate understandings (for
more information, see Kurhila 2006: 153–217). Although these structures
have been analysed as being part of the same phenomenon, they also have
different characteristics. I will attempt to define to what extent these
phenomena overlap or diverge.
Whenever foreign language learners engage in conversation, one
assumption is that an essential part of their conversations entails word
searches. These searches can be seen as a part of language acquisition and as
an imperfect knowledge of language. However, this view is challenged by
other jointly produced structures, such as collaborative completions. For
instance, Savijärvi (2011) observed how younger children learn Swedish as
a second language in an immersion kindergarten. She noticed that children
were able to produce Swedish co-constructions during the early stages of
their immersion schooling. However, one challenge is how understandable
the frame is and what part of the teacher’s utterance is missing. The teacher
can also ‘trigger’ pupils to become active in their utterance production, but
in some cases, pupils continue to produce an utterance that has already been
completed. In such cases, the teacher cannot use syntactically incomplete
10
1 Introduction
utterances because they are syntactically complete. (Ibid. 148–149, 152.)
Teachers can also use what is referred to as Designedly Incomplete
Utterances (DIUs; Koshik 2002, Margutti 2010). According to Koshik
(2002: 279), teachers use DIUs, ‘to elicit self-correction of written errors’.
A language that is used between non-native speakers can be referred to as
a lingua franca. The lingua franca that is currently the most used in the
world today is English (English as a Lingua Franca; ELF). The status of
English as a global and international language means that there are different
conditions and goals for its research in comparison to the more locally used
languages such as Finnish (for instance, see the following edited volumes:
Jenkins 2007, Mauranen & Ranta 2009). Another point worth noting is that
non-native speakers have outnumbered the number of native speakers of the
‘core’ varieties of British and American English (Mauranen & Metsä-Ketelä
2005: 1, see also Crystal 2001: 61, Seidlhofer 2001: 141).
This analysis focusses on two neighbouring languages that belong to
different language groups. Finnish is spoken by approximately five million
people and it is a member of the Finnic group of the Uralic family of
languages. In contrast, Russian is a Slavic language that is a member of the
Indo-European language family. According to traditional morphological
typology, Finnish is an agglutinating inflectional language and Russian a
fusional language. The phonetic systems of these languages differ. A rather
simple explanation is that Finnish is a language with vowels and Russian, a
language with consonants. (Bondarko 2009: 23–29, Iivonen 2009: 48–60.)
Prosodically, the place of word stress in Russian is not fixed, whereas in
Finnish, stress always falls on the first syllable (Bondarko 2009: 31, Iivonen
2009: 60). Finnish also has a phonological opposition of sound length that
applies to both vowels and consonants, but it is not connected to stress
(Iivonen 2009: 48, 59). However, the Finnish and Russian languages possess
some characteristics that make them more similar in certain aspects than
some of the European languages within the Indo-European family. Both
languages share similarities, such as the absence of articles, comparatively
free word order, an alternative structure for the verb to have, as well as rich
word-formation possibilities.
These two languages currently face somewhat different situations. Until
recently, Finns have usually migrated to other countries and learnt foreign
languages (see the edited volume by Jönsson-Korhola & Lindgren 2003)
with little migration to Finland. However, increasing immigration to Finland
has resulted in Finnish now being spoken as a lingua franca. However, this
11
1 Introduction
language form and its usage have not been studied extensively thus far (see,
however, Koivisto 1994, Lehtonen 2006, Mazeland & Zaman-Zadeh 2004,
Siitonen & Martin 2001).
Due to the history of Russian being used as a lingua franca during the
Soviet era in the Soviet Union and in the countries of the Eastern Bloc, the
situation of Russian as a lingua franca is somewhat different. However, the
position and significance of Russian has decreased after the dissolution of
the Soviet Union (Pavlenko 2006, 2008; Zaprudski 2007). When Russian
lost its status as a supra-ethnic language following the collapse of the Soviet
Union, this had a major impact on almost 36 million Russian speakers. This
population of what is called the ‘Near Foreign’ countries is also often
interchangeably referred to as the Russian diaspora, or simply as the
Russian-speaking population, although only 25 million of these 36 million
Russian speakers were ethnic Russians. (Pavlenko 2006.) However, in many
post-Soviet countries, Russian continues to be used in interethnic
communication (as in Tajikistan; Lemivaara-Khudoikulova 2011, Pavlenko
2006). Furthermore, the research agenda in Russia is currently dominated by
language policy studies. That is, the micro-sociolinguistic studies of the
regional varieties of Russian and of the actual language have attracted less
attention (see, however, Lemivaara-Khudoikulova 2011, Verschik 2004). In
the Russian Federation, the significance of Russian has increased because
many of the minority language speakers either use Russian in many spheres,
or have changed their language to Russian (for additional information, see
the following edited volume: Zamjatin, Pasanen & Saarikivi 2012).
The concept of a word search is used to refer to a speaker in conversation
who encounters difficulties in finding a correct word or other expression,
such as the correct noun form. Thus, the speaker shows uncertainty, or
displays hesitancy, implying that he or she is having difficulties conveying
their meaning in a way that the recipient would understand. This uncertainty
or hesitancy leads to the progressivity of the turn being halted due to the
speaker experiencing difficulties in formulating talk that would be
understandable to others. (Kurhila 2006: 91.) According to Goodwin and
Goodwin (1986), a prototypical word search is either preceded by sound
stretches or other speech perturbations and a pause. Speakers conduct word
searches in different types of conversations (for instance, see Helasvuo et al.
2004 for word-search sequences in the conversations of Finnish speakers
with Aphasia; Hayashi 2003 for word searches in Japanese conversations).
12
1 Introduction
When a speaker is unfamiliar with a concept, this might create problems
in his or her utterance formulation and to illustrate this, I present an excerpt
from my data. In this example, speaker N is encountering problems with a
specific Russian concept. 1 For example, it is customary in Russian academic
speech to construct compound nouns with a part of an adjective and a part of
a noun, such as, filfak: filologičeskij fakul’tet, ‘Faculty of Philology’. In this
particular example, the participants are discussing the educational system of
Tajikistan and in particular, the doctoral training offered there. In line 1, N
tries to form the appropriate word and initiates the search by stating v ètom
med-, ‘in this med-’. The word med- is cut-off and the utterance ends with
slightly falling intonation. In line 2, A acknowledges that the idea in N’s
utterance was correct and confirms it with the affirmative particle da, ‘yes’.
She then takes the whole construction and recycles it as a part of her own
utterance: v medkolledž postupila, ‘I was admitted to the medical institute’.
The word consists of the truncated adjective med- (from medicinskij,
‘medical’) and the noun kolledž, ‘college’. This type of truncation is typical
of Russian colloquial speech in educational and vocational spheres
(Zemskaja et al. 1981: 126–127).
(1) TI 37. <8:32>
01
N: →
02
A: →
03
N:
04 A:
.h A
posle posle škol-y (.) posle vy srazu
.h but after after school-GEN after 2PL immediately
postupi-l-i
v
↑èto-m
(.) med--,
be:admit-PST-PL PRE this-PREP (.) med-But right after school and then you immediately got admitted
to this med,
Da v
medkolledž-ø
[postupi-l-a.
Yes PRE medical:institute-ACC be:admit-PST-FEM
Yes I was admitted to the medical institute.
[Èt-o
by-l-o
↑vs-ë
3SG-NEU be-PST-NEU all-NEU
po-rus-sk-i.
PRE-Russian-ADJ-ADV
It was all in Russian.
.h Èt-o
by-l-o
da:
vs-ë,
.h 3SG-NEU be-PST-NEU yes
all-NEU
It was yes all,
Lerner (1991, 1996) has made the major contribution to the subject of
‘collaborative productions’, and he refers to the phenomenon as ‘sentencesin-progress’. It was originally Sacks (1992a) who commented that they were
‘collaboratively built sentences’. By comparison, Helasvuo (2004) and Ono
1
The data and transcription principles are described in chapter 4.
13
1 Introduction
& Thompson (1995) classify collaborative productions as ‘coconstructions’. Szczepek (2000a, 2000b) has examined both the functional
and the formal aspects of collaborative productions in English conversation.
Although different researchers emphasize slightly different aspects of these
collaborations, the production of these joint structures is usually interpreted
as being an interactional achievement. Thus, when one speaker completes an
utterance by another speaker, this reveals aspects of an interactionally
relevant syntax in that participants analyse syntactic structures and orient to
them. (Auer 2009: 4; Helasvuo 2004: 1334; Lerner 1991: 441, 445; Pekarek
Doehler 2011.)
The following excerpt illustrates a typical conversational example. T and
S are discussing the different types of civic organisations that are financed
by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. T suggests (line 2) that
perhaps it would be better if there would be some coordinating organisation
that would receive a greater sum of money to be shared among the smaller
organisations. 2 However, T also acknowledges that this might eventually
lead to arguments or in-fighting. In line 3, S adds the word keskenänne,
‘with each other’, and completes the utterance:
(2) MV 41. <01:19:49>
01
T:
02
→
03
S: →
04
T:
Mielummin joku
<kattojärjestö>
Rather
some:kind roof:organisation
kene-llä
annet-aan ne
parikymmentä
who-ADE
give-PASS those twenty,
Rather some kind of coordinating organisation that would get
those twenty, ((thousand euros))
ja sitten te (.) vo-isi-tte
tappel-la
↑siellä,
And then
2PL
can-CON-2PL fight-INF
there
And then you could argue there,
Keske[nä-nne (-).
With each other-PX.2PL
With each other.
[Keskenä-nne
niin paljon kuin h(h)alua-tte.
With each other-PX.2PL as
much
as
want-PL2
With each other as much as you want.
In addition to the word searches and to the collaborative productions that
enable the joint activity in conversations, it is also possible that either the
speaker or the recipient may, instead of providing the next relevant turn,
2
In line 1, there are a few mismatches in terms of Finnish grammar. Firstly, speaker T uses the animate
pronoun kuka,‘who’, although the referent is the inanimate kattojärjestö, ‘coordinating organisation’.
Secondly, she uses the inappropriate form, kene-llä, ‘which-ADE’, although the correct case would be
kene-lle, ‘which-ALL’. I have transcribed the conversations based on their actual language use so the
language has not been corrected.
14
1 Introduction
shift the focus of the conversation to certain elements in the prior speech.
These types of examples in which a co-participant articulates his or her
interpretation of the previous turns, can be referred to as candidate
understandings. A speaker can repair a problem they felt that the previous
speaker had, but he or she can also check his or her understanding of the
problematic utterance. In other words, the speaker can articulate an
understanding of the other speaker’s meaning. Thus, rather than merely
modifying the prior, the articulations take it one step forward from the
problematic situation by presenting a potential interpretation of the trouble
turn. (Kurhila 2006: 153–217.)
It may be argued that word searches and collaborative completions are
connected. According to this assertion, word searches allow collaborative
completion and they can be described as being grammatically designed for
conditional entry by recipients (Lerner 1996: 261–263). Word searches
provide an opportunity for the recipients of talk to contribute to the search
and to collaboratively complete it. Moreover, a collaborative completion is
typically designed so that only the next word being sought is produced.
After the search, the primary speaker may continue his or her turn. Lerner
(ibid.) noted that the search is often placed near the end of the unit, which
consequently provides a place for the co-participant to complete the unit in
progress. Furthermore, a word-search sequence can provide a sequential
environment for deciding who will deliver the story in a situation that
involves several potential tellers (Lerner 1992).
My approach is somewhat different from this. I shall attempt to
demonstrate that word searches and collaborative productions have specific
positions in conversations and that participants orient to them differently. As
was evident in the first two examples, the word search was accompanied by
hesitancy markers and other perturbations. During the collaborative
production, the second speaker added the word at the end of the utterance
and this added word immediately followed the previous speaker’s utterance.
In both cases, the initiator of the word search or the previous speaker
accepted the suggested or added word by repeating it.
My aim is to observe how word searches and collaborative productions
are distributed in conversation. One pertinent question is what characterizes
the utterances that can be described as either collaborative productions, or as
word searches? As I have mentioned earlier, these structures can be defined
as being a part of the same phenomenon so that they form a type of
continuum. Candidate understanding might also serve as a bridge-builder
15
1 Introduction
between these two activities. My aim is to determine the linguistic and
interactional features word searches, collaborative productions and
candidate understandings. Other factors that will be taken into account are
syntax and other grammatical features, as well as how participants orient to
them on a conversational level.
Another set of research questions in this dissertation is connected to the
two languages that will be analysed. That is, I am interested in determining
whether speakers of the Finnish and Russian languages construct jointly
produced structures differently, or whether the proportions of instances
differ. This is not purely comparative research, but it reflects the type of
resources these languages access in order to solve word searches or to
jointly produce different types of structures. In brief, this analysis adopts a
cross-linguistic perspective.
1.2 The Theoretical and Methodological Framework
This paper explores the interrelationship between linguistic forms and the
different ways of organising social interaction by focussing on both
linguistic and conversational structures. The methodological framework for
this is interactional linguistics, which is interested in analysing language use
in naturally-occurring interaction (for more information, see the following
edited volumes: Hakulinen & Selting 2005, Ochs et al. 1996, and Selting &
Couper-Kuhlen 2001). Interactional linguistics can be defined as a part of
linguistics, originating from different types of functional orientations
(conversation analysis, functional linguistics, and anthropological
linguistics). However, the main analytical tools are provided by the rigorous
methodology of conversation analysis (CA; see, e.g. Heritage 1996 [1984],
Psathas 1995, Sacks et al. 1974).
Since the beginning of the 1990s, an increasing number of researchers
have adopted the premise that language structure and use are inseparable
from interaction. This means that any linguistic phenomenon must be
examined in relation to its social-sequential context of occurrence. (For
example, see the following edited volumes: Couper-Kuhlen & Ford 2004,
Couper-Kuhlen & Selting 1996, Ford et al. 2002, Hakulinen & Selting 2005,
Ochs et al. 1996, Selting & Couper-Kuhlen 2001.)
A fundamental tenet of conversation analysts is that casual conversation
is the basic or primordial form of all forms of talk (for instance, see Heritage
1996 [1984]: 234–235, Sacks et al. 1974: 730, Schegloff 1987). However,
during the last few decades, CA-based research has begun to examine a
16
1 Introduction
wide range of interactions, which are predominately located within
institutional settings and practices such as courtrooms, journalistic
interviews, and political speeches (see Clayman 1992, Drew & Heritage
1992, Heritage 1985, Sammalkorpi 2006).
What then follows is that, on the one hand, the structures and the
grammar of the language have formed to fulfil the needs of interaction (see,
e.g. Couper-Kuhlen & Selting 2001: 3, Sacks et al. 1974: 722, Schegloff
1989: 143–144, Schegloff 1996: 54–56). On the other hand, when
interpreting linguistic expressions, the most essential factor when
interpreting linguistic expressions is the placement of the expression in the
sequential context of occurrence (see, e.g. Couper-Kuhlen & Selting 2001:
3–5, Fox 2007: 304, Schegloff 1996). According to Schegloff (1996: 56),
‘grammar stands in a reflexive relationship to the organisation of a spate of
talk as a turn’.
Conversation occurs in context and, of course, context is not stable, but
the participants co-construct it continuously, on a turn-by-turn basis. The
important part is the local interactional context. In other words, the content
or the form of the turns cannot be characterized primarily by the participants
in the conversation, or by the themes or other external factors. Thus, turns
need to be analysed with respect to previous and following turns. This
means that the participants’ linguistic and other behaviour are not merely
reactions to the context (context-shaped), but they are also one means of
constructing context (context renewing). (Goodwin & Heritage 1990: 289.)
In short, conversation does not take place in a vacuum. From the viewpoint
of the context and the internal structure of the conversation, jointly produced
structures are at a junction because participants construct and shape context
together. If a turn is constructed by two or more speakers, this reflects that
participants can process utterances in real-time and produce continuations
that are suitable both syntactically and from the viewpoint of the
conversation. (Helasvuo 2004; Sacks 1992a: 651, 654; Sacks 1992b: 57–58.)
CA has its roots in ethnomethodology, which is a sociologically oriented
field of study. Ethnomethodology focusses on studying how people manage
in everyday activities. Unlike strictly linguistic discourse analysis, CA-based
research tries to avoid using categories that are defined in advance. Thus,
research questions and categories originate from the data. With respect to
this study, although the data collection is aimed at obtaining spoken Finnish
and Russian lingua franca material, the actual research theme was not
selected until after some recordings were already collected.
17
1 Introduction
One can also talk about the ‘emic’ relevance of the different category
memberships. The emic perspective means that the participants’ own
perspectives are considered when conducting a research. (Firth & Wagner
1997: 286.) In a way, CA-oriented research leaves the decision making to
the participants. This means that the researcher does not need to make
hypothetical classifications, but rather he or she can rely on the actual
linguistic behaviour of the participants. (Kurhila 2006: 32.) This also means
that all the details of interaction can be important, and nothing can be left
out of the analysis as irrelevant or accidental (Ford 2001: 59–60, Heritage
1996 [1984]: 237–238, Psathas 1995: 2, Schegloff 1997: 502). This
approach is suitable the present study since little research has thus far been
conducted on Finnish or Russian in lingua franca interaction.
What, then, does interactional linguistics offer to a study of lingua franca
communication? As a starting point, interactional linguistics emphasises the
analysis of individual languages as well as the analysis of cross-linguistic
and cross-cultural aspects (Couper-Kuhlen & Selting 2001: 3). One goal of
interactional linguistics is a better understanding of the nature of the
influence that languages and interaction have on each other (ibid.).
Regarding typologically different languages, interactional linguistics
research suggests ‘that the way common problems are dealt with in
interaction may be shaped the distinct linguistic resources which a language
provides’ (ibid. 8). Thus, research on lingua franca communication adds one
layer to the interactional linguistics research. Although the participants are
not native speakers of Finnish or Russian, all the resources of their mother
tongues and the other languages they know are present in every
conversation. They also have knowledge about different conversational
situations. For instance, they know the appropriate way to answer questions
or how to conduct oneself in institutional settings. (Canagarajah & Wurr
2011.)
As mentioned above, CA-based research attempts to avoid using
categories that are defined a priori. Thus, the notion of ‘lingua franca
interaction’ is somewhat problematic. This could be compared to
categorisations such as ‘women’s interactions’ or ‘elderly persons’
interactions’. However, it should be taken as an analyst construct, potentially
without procedural relevance for the participants (Firth 1996: 241, Schegloff
1991). Procedural relevance refers to the category being demonstrable in the
talk itself and the participants themselves making it relevant. That is also the
case in relation to the participants of this study. For example, the participants
18
1 Introduction
often mention that they do not know the Finnish language well enough or
that it is not their mother tongue (see also Firth 1996: 241).
If the notion of ‘lingua franca’ is taken as a conceptual categorisation, it
does provide some advantages. This language use can also be described as
being ‘foreigner talk’, ‘interlanguage talk’, or some type of ‘learner
interaction’. However, as Firth (1996: 241; emphases original) defines:
For in contrast to these latter-mentioned categorizations, the term 'lingua franca'
attempts to conceptualize the participant simply as a language user whose realworld interactions are deserving of unprejudiced description, rather – as these
latter categories – than as a person conceived a priori to be the possessor of
incomplete or deficient communicative competence, putatively striving for the
'target' competence of an idealized 'native speaker'.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the conversation analytic tradition was
monolingual and researchers analysed their own mother tongue. The
monolingual tradition has been validated by asserting that researchers
should be able to utilize all their native intuitions, suggesting that they
should only work in their native language (Wong & Olsher 2000: 114–115;
see also Seedhouse 1998 for criticising monolingual research paradigm).
However, researchers currently extend their attention to situations that
involve non-native speakers, speakers with different speech disorders and
communication between parents and children (Helasvuo et al. 2004; Kurhila
2003, 2006; Laakso 2006).
The research on lingua franca interactions challenges CA’s working
assumptions (for example, orderliness in talk) and tests their applicability. It
can be said that concerning the research on lingua franca interactions, CA
provides a basic methodology for describing how these interactions are both
sequentially and socially constructed. Furthermore, consideration of the data
type actually allows us to define better CA’s methods and working
assumptions. (Cf. Firth 1996: 240, 253.)
It can therefore be concluded that the CA-based approach is also suitable
for participants conversing in a foreign language. CA emphasises the
cooperation between participants. Even though it might ostensibly seem that
the participants have nothing in common – they do not have the same
mother tongue or cultural background –the shared feature that they are using
a foreign language to conduct a conversation (cf. Hülmbauer 2009). The
emphasis on cooperation means that analysis is not merely guessing about a
speaker’s intentions, but attempting to explain how and in what ways
participants attempt to achieve mutual understanding. Understanding is
19
1 Introduction
considered to be a continuous and dynamic process that is constructed and
modified in and through interaction (Kurhila 2006: 19).
In the CA tradition, achieving mutual understanding is referred to as
intersubjectivity (Heritage 1996 [1984]: 249–257). Intersubjectivity does not
attempt to deny a person’s individuality or uniqueness of experiences, but it
works on the assumption that people’s experiences are sufficiently similar
for them to act together and communicate (ibid. 64–70). When
intersubjectivity faces the risk of breakdown, participants have means to
remedy the situation (Schegloff 1992). For example, participants may return
back in their conversations and perform repair initiations (Schegloff et al.
1977).
Researchers on the Russian language have focused on the factors that
might result in miscommunication (kommunikativnaja neudača,
‘communicative failure’; Ermakova & Zemskaja 1993; Mustajoki 2012,
2013b). One reason for certain situations leading to communicative failure is
that the participants’ mental worlds differ (Mustajoki 2012: 218). As a
consequence, participants must take into account these possible differences
and design their utterances to accommodate the fact that the other
participants’ mental world may be different and this is called the ‘recipient
design’; for example, see Mustajoki 2013b: 7–10). Although the focus of the
Russian research is somewhat different compared to Western research, the
Russian research has revealed that miscommunication or communicative
failures are just as common in interaction between friends and family
members as in intercultural interaction (Ermakova & Zemskaja 1993: 31–
32).
Temporality shapes both conversation and the formation of linguistic
structures (for example, see Auer 2005; Schegloff 1996: 55–56, 102).
Temporality affects the grammatical structure of a conversation. This
phenomenon can be called Emergent Grammar (Hopper 1987, 1998, 2011).
Hopper (1987: 141) argues that grammar ‘must be viewed as a real-time,
social phenomenon, and therefore is temporal’. Hopper (2011: 26) claims
that dialog does not consist of syntactic structures that are generated by rules
rather than assembling familiar fragments. This position envisions
emergence as a synchronic process, with syntactic structures unfolding in
real time (Hopper 2011: 27, see also Auer & Pfänder 2011: 3). The
emergence of clauses as syntactic units can also be achieved through the
participants engaging in mutual activity (Helasvuo 2001b: 33–35).
20
1 Introduction
Another feature, which is connected to the temporal sides of interaction,
is called ‘projection’. The potential course of linguistic structures is often
anticipatory so that the recipient can interpret whether the utterance is
complete or still unfinished. (For instance, see Auer 2005, Hopper &
Thompson 2008: 116, Sacks et al. 1974: 702.) The temporal aspect does not
only include the anticipation of linguistic structure of the turn, but the
interpretation of ongoing action as well. The recipient must continuously
monitor the relation of the ongoing turn to the previous conversation and be
aware of how the turn affects the continuation of the conversation (for
example, see Schegloff 1996: 100).
My research does concern how speakers learn language. If we examine
more closely the traditional Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research,
we notice that the research is predominantly based on premises that learning
is an action that emphasizes individual effort (Firth & Wagner 1997). Thus,
when speakers encounter problems in interaction, they are often approached
as a language-specific problem for the learner rather than a problem between
interlocutors. This type of approach can be called a mentalist SLA
perspective. (Kurhila 2006: 9.) For example, when studying word searches,
second language studies have focussed primarily on the strategies that nonnative speakers adopt when encountering problems in their language
productions rather than observing their difficulties as an interactional
phenomenon (Kurhila 2006: 94). Lilja (2010: 30) defines this type of
research tradition as mainstream and uses the term ‘individually-oriented
second language acquisition research’. With special reference to lingua
franca research, Hülmbauer (2009: 326) has argued that research concerning
a lingua franca is interested in interactive language use, whereas
interlanguage research concentrates on “linguistic development on the
individual level.” 3
The aim of this thesis is to observe language and conversational
structures as they occur in real conversation. That is, my goal is not to
compare the language that is used by non-natives to native speakers’
language. In a traditional sense, I do not accept the assumption that the
problems that arise in interaction are caused solely by the foreign language.
In fact, the participants do not necessarily even pay attention to
grammatically unsuitable forms (for example, see Kurhila 2006: 31 for the
conversations involving both native and non-native speakers of Finnish).
Kurhila (ibid. 132–133) states: “The NNS orients to its linguistic aspect: the
3
See also Ranta 2009.
21
1 Introduction
aim of the search is to bring the target word to a grammatical completion.
The NS, for her part, orients to the interactional aspect: she interprets the
aim of the search as achieving a state of mutual understanding.”
1.3 The structure of the study
This study is organised as follows: chapter 2 introduces previous research
concerning lingua franca studies as well as research on diaspora and
colloquial Russian. The key concepts of CA and Interactional Linguisticbased research are provided in chapter 3. Chapter 4 presents the data
consulted in this study. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 will comprise an extensive
analysis of the jointly produced structures in the Finnish and Russian data.
In chapter 5 concentrates on the collaborative productions and provides an
analysis of the general lexico-semantic, syntactic and prosodic features of
the utterances. Chapters 6 is devoted to word searches and chapter 7
focusses on candidate understandings by analysing the linguistic and local
sequential aspects of the phenomena. Chapter 8 will discuss the results and
conclude the study. I will also outline the possible research subjects for the
future.
22
2 Research on English as a lingua franca
and non-standard forms of Russian
In this chapter, I will first introduce the research concerning English as a
Lingua Franca (subsection 2.1). I will then discuss the situation of the
Russian language from different perspectives (subsection 2.2). The collapse
of the Soviet Union had an immense impact on the Russian population who
remained outside Russia; they are referred to as the Russian- speaking
diaspora. Naturally, this diaspora has contacts with populations that use
languages other than Russia. Finally, I will discuss the research on the
colloquial Russian that is spoken in Russia.
There are several for grouping together the English and Russian
languages and I will discuss the research on them in the same chapter. As for
lingua francas, English is the obvious number one because it is the most
widespread and widely spoken lingua franca and most of the LF research
has focussed on English (for instance, see Meierkord 2006 for historical
background). Discussion concerning the use of ELF (‘whose language is it’
or ‘who owns the language’; see, for example, Haberland 2011, Seidlhofer
2001) has been rather polemic.
On the one hand, the situation of the Russian language is somewhat
similar to that of ELF, but on the other hand, Russian can be regarded as
completely different. During the Russian Empire and the Soviet era, Russian
was used in the grand duchies and in the Soviet Socialist Republics. During
the Soviet era, Russian also played a significant role in other Eastern
European countries. In the Soviet Union, Russian was the language of
interethnic communication (jazyk mežnacional’nogo obščenija) or an
intermediate language (jazyk-posrednik). Even though the significance of the
Russian language has changed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the
geographical enormity of Russia as well as the great number of minorities
living within its boundaries and using Russian in everyday life make it clear
that the question of Russian as a lingua franca is far from being solved. (For
instance, see Daniel et al. 2010 for the language situation in Daghestan;
Hakimov & Trusova 2010 in the Udmurt Republic; Vahtin et al. 2010 for an
overall description of Russian ‘languages’.) Although the Russian language
has been used as a language of interethnic communication or as an
23
2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
intermediate language, research on the subject remains scarce (Mustajoki
2011:16–18)4.
When taking into account the methodological approach adopted for this
study, it becomes clear that previous research concerning the Russian
language is somewhat limited. This is not to say that there are no studies
concerning the use of colloquial Russian or the language form used abroad.
However, Western scholars are usually not familiar with the findings of their
Russian colleagues. This might be due to the language barrier: Russian
scholars tend to write in Russian, and since Russian is not commonly spoken
among Western scholars, Russian research is not accessible for them
(however, see, for example, Mustajoki 2010). On the other hand, Russians
might have a similar language barrier with respect to English or other
Western languages, or they might not want to use English. This might,
unfortunately, result in a situation where ideas never cross the language
barriers and two or more scholars may address with same issues without
being aware of each other.
2.1 English as a Lingua Franca
I will now introduce research concerning English as a Lingua Franca. As
noted earlier, the number of non-native English speakers has surpassed the
number of native speakers of the ‘core’ varieties of British and American
English (Mauranen & Metsä-Ketelä 2006: 1, see also Crystal 2003: 61,
Seidlhofer 2001: 141). One way of drawing distinctions between the
different usages of English is to describe them as belonging to three
different circles. The inner circle includes the native English used in Britain,
the United States and Australia. The outer circle, in turn, consists of
countries in which English is spoken as a second language due to the
countries’ colonial history (for instance, India, South Africa; see, for
example, Foley 2006 for Singapore). Finally, the expanding circle comprises
countries that do not have a history of colonisation with the members of the
inner circle but which recognise the importance of English as an
international language (for example, China, Japan, Israel, and the
Scandinavian countries). (Kachru 1992 [1982]: 356, see also Crystal 2003:
4
Fedorova and Gavrilova (2010) examined how native Russian speakers interact with non-native Russian
speakers and they proposed three categories. They concluded that while in St. Petersburg, native speakers
tend to behave as hosts, on the Russian-Chinese border, native speakers served as bosses, and on the
Finnish-Russian border, as pupils. As hosts, the Russians take responsibility and dominate the dialogue, as
bosses they speak fast and use colloquial forms, and as pupils, they explain grammatical rules by referring
to the uniqueness of the Finnish language (ibid. 52, 56, 60–61).
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
60–61.) In this type of international usage, English can also be defined as an
international language (for English as an International Language, EIL; see,
for example, Jenkins 2000, 2002; Seidlhofer 2000). However, Jenkins
(2006, 2009) has criticised the dominance of Standard British and Standard
American English as the premise of language learning and the use of
Received Pronunciation (RP) as the ideal. Regarding pronunciation, other
issues also emerge, such as whether it is appropriate for a non-native
speaker to use a regional accent (Jenkins 2009: 11)?
Research on ELF began in the late 1980s. At first, the subject of study
was English as an international language (EIL), but as early as in 1996, Firth
first spoke of ELF. In 1998, Meierkord studied the discourse structure and
politeness phenomena during small-talk conversations and compared them
to native speakers’ conversations. On the one hand, the ELF employed by
non-native speakers shared similarities with the standard varieties. Those
similarities were speech-related features such as the length of turns and
simultaneous speech. On the other hand, the ELF spoken in those
conversations also exhibited characteristics that are generally attributed to
learner language. For example, speakers tended to prefer safe topics such as
meals or university classes. In order to establish a friendly and cooperative
atmosphere, they also made use of laughter to substitute for verbal back
channels. However, as Meierkord (1998) states:
Conversations are built up collaboratively and speakers used a comparatively high
amount of sentence completions and restatements. These characteristics do not
result from interferences with the speakers' mother tongues. Rather, they are
specific phenomena of this interlanguage lingua franca.
The pragmatic studies conducted by Firth (1996) and Meierkord (1998)
are predominantly descriptive and small-scale, but they provide important
information on ELF. Jenkins’ (2000) study on the phonology of ELF is
acclaimed as seminal and it has significantly affected ELF research of ELF.
Jenkins’s study was the first major description of ELF and it is the first to
consider ELF as a language form in its own right not only as a deficient
form of Standard English. 5
To facilitate ELF research, several corpora have been collected. One of
these is the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE) that
aims to provide a general basis for the analyses of ELF talk on all linguistic
levels (Breiteneder et al. 2006; Seidlhofer 2001, 2005, 2011). The study of
5
Traditional views of language proficiency are still in effect. For example, if the rules of a language are
somehow not followed in the conversation, the evaluation depends on the speaker. Thus, native speakers
are merely bending the rules, whereas non-native speakers break them. (for example, see Prodromou 2007:
23.)
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
ELF in Finland has focussed on the ELF that is used in academic settings.
The Department of English Philology at the University of Helsinki has
collected a corpus of this type of language use, The ELFA Corpus (see, e.g.
Mauranen 2006b, 2009b; Mauranen & Metsä-Ketelä 2006).
One current, heated debate specifically concerns academic ELF.
Although a large number of international universities use English, university
language policies and practices are governed by national English (British
and North American) norms (Jenkins 2011: 926). This is evident, for
example, in the academic journals in which “non-native English academics
are obliged to have their English ‘corrected’ by native speakers before their
articles are accepted for publication in international academic journals”
(ibid. 928). In journals specializing specifically in ELF, other policies are
implemented (cf. Mauranen & Metsä-Ketelä 2006: 6). According to
Mauranen & Metsä-Ketelä (ibid.), this means that although native speakers
have the right to submit their articles to the journal, they are not assumed to
have the ultimate authority regarding linguistic correctness or
comprehensibility. Thus, the contributions of the non-native users of ELF
have not been proofread by native speakers. Suviniitty (2012: preface) stated
in the preface of her dissertation that her thesis did not undergo language
revision even though it was highly recommended by the university.
Suviniitty (ibid.) argued that the principle of language revision by a native
speaker of English would have collided with the whole notion of ELF.
There has been a strong research history on the pragmatic features of
ELF (for example, see House 2002, Mauranen 2006b). Mollin (2006) has
considered ELF in relation to Kachrus’s circles. However, ELF is not
usually included in the Expanding Circle. The problem of ELF is that it
appears to lack coherent features that delineate it from other varieties.
However, ELF might be conceptualized as a functional phenomenon that
emerges from the strategies of lingua franca communication. (Ibid. 55.) If
structural similarities were to be found in ELF, this would imply that “the
Kachruvian model would have to be re-written at the level of varieties and
standards, granting the Expanding Circle the same right to its own standard
as the other circles” (ibid. 43).
As Mollin (2006: 45) points out, speakers of ELF do not necessarily use
language daily with the same people. What then follows is that the speaker
community can be constantly in flux rather than remaining stable and fixed
(see also Seidlhofer 2011: 81–88). Indeed, speakers need to consider
different linguistic and cultural backgrounds and to accommodate their
26
2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
speech accordingly. However, is it even possible to negotiate a common
standard in these conversation situations that are ever-changing? Mollin
(2006: 45) hypothesizes that the common features of ELF would be rather
surprising. The results of her study confirm this hypothesis. Firstly, speakers
tend adhere to the standard usage conventions of native-speakers. The errors
that they make therefore depend on their mother tongue and their English
competence. In brief, the errors by the ELF speakers were individual; there
were very few common features that united lingua franca speakers. (Ibid.
48.)
Mollin’s position is in direct contrast to other studies that have found that
similarities occur. One of the interesting features is the controversial thirdperson singular –s, which is being used somewhat differently than it is in
Standard English (Cogo & Dewey 2006). The present study combines both
pragmatic and lexicogrammatical features and demonstrates that the non-use
of –s depends on both the type of verb that it is attached to and on situational
parameters (ibid. 77). Furthermore, the zero –s is more likely to occur on
main verbs, whereas on auxiliary verbs, –s is more likely to be present. If
the situational parameters are taken into account, the use of zero is a result
of the efficiency of communication and exploited redundancy. (Ibid. 87.)
Mollin’s (2006) and Cogo & Dewey’s (2006) studies reveal something
essential of ELF and its speakers. Even though the results of those studies
tend to contradict each other, they emphasise variability in terms of speaker
proficiency, and openness to an integration of forms of other languages.
Lingua franca interactions are flexible in the sense that they allow
participants to negotiate the language use and to take into account different
backgrounds. (Jenkins 2003.)
In addition to the above-mentioned alternation between zero and –s, other
features also commonly occur in ELF. Those features include confusing the
relative pronouns who and which, and omitting the definite and indefinite
articles where they are obligatory in Standard English and inserting them
where they do not occur. Speakers also tend to insert redundant prepositions
and overuse certain words of high semantic generality (do, have, make, etc.).
(Björkman 2009: 231-236; Dewey 2009: 63; Meierkord 2004: 121;
Seidlhofer 2004: 220, 2011: 107–109.)
One of the interesting features is the frequent and divergent use of the –
ing verb form (Ranta 2006). Non-native speakers often overuse this
‘attractive’ progressive (ibid.) and it has been described as a problem for
non-native speakers in their second-language acquisition studies. However,
27
2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
as Ranta (ibid. 112) observes, the overuse of the progressive did not create
trouble in the communication in the data. For this reason, it might not even
be justified to mention the overuse of the progressive because the results
presented by Ranta suggest that the vast majority of the uses resembled the
standard users. Thus, on-native speakers do know the semantics and use it
appropriately most of the time. (Ibid. 111). Moreover, the ‘attractiveness’ of
the progressive is connected to the grammatical form itself. Ranta (ibid. 112)
states:
What I mean by this is that adding the ending -ing and the auxiliary BE to a verb
(any verb for that matter) gives the verb more prominence and salience in the
speaker’s utterance. It makes the verb stand out, so to speak, and draws the
interlocutor’s attention as a ‘heavier’ periphrastic structure.
Ranta (ibid. 100) also discovered that this feature is attested in the
English of speakers who have typologically very different first languages
and this makes it a candidate for a true ‘ELF feature’ and this calls to
question the common assumption that this usage of the progressive is either
a transfer from the speaker’s mother tongue, or a result of the instruction
that the speaker has received.
As mentioned earlier, when non-native speakers communicate, they do
not encounter more misunderstandings or problems than in the
communication between native speakers (Mauranen 2006a, Meierkord 2004,
Thije 2003). In her recent dissertation, Suviniitty (2012) examined the
lectures conducted in ELF that were offered in the International Master’s
Program- A thorough analysis of the transcripts and surveys revealed that
‘broken’ or ‘bad’ English does not have a negative impact on a student’s
reception of teaching. It is more important to note that teachers currently use
interactional features during lectures that encourage the students to
participate during their lectures (Suviniitty 2012: 13).
For the past twenty years, ELF has emerged as a prestigious field of
research, but its studies and results have not achieved universal approval.
Some researchers are concerned that the use of ELF and non-standard forms
will ultimately influence English as a native language (ENL) and
consequently lead to a deterioration in the English taught as a foreign
language. This position maintains that only a monolithic and standardised
model of English ensures comprehension among those who speak English.
Some researchers, however, claim that the English language belongs equally
to those who use it as a foreign language as well as to those who speak it as
a mother tongue (Widdowson 1994).
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
The situation of the English language is somewhat divided. Firstly,
English has been considered as a threat to local languages and cultures.
Indeed, English is often the first and only foreign language that someone
learns. In theory, people know foreign languages, but they only know the
same languages. Secondly, as was stated earlier, the global use of English
might threaten Standard English. (Mauranen 2009b: 1.) However, the
question is how this will affect native speakers. Will they have to learn
foreign languages, or is their mother tongue sufficient? One could also argue
that English can be a restrictive factor in their lives because native speakers
of English can form their own identities as monolinguals. (Chesterman
2005.)
More generally speaking, multilingualism as we know it today is not a
new tendency. According to one estimation, “at the end of the 20 th century,
one or another form of multilingualism affect 60 per cent of the world’s
population” (Lüdi 2006: 20). According to Lüdi (ibid.), monolingualism can
be conceived of as a boundary case of the multilingualism that originates
from very specific cultural conditions.
For most people, English is a visible lingua franca that is used globally in
the sense that it surrounds us all the time.6 People might also use other
languages as lingua francas, but they are used more locally or are used in
certain spheres (for example, French in the European Union; Wright 2006;
or German in the Middle Ages; Darquennes & Nelde 2006). In addition,
lingua franca usage might pose a threat to Standard English, but on the other
hand, using English as a lingua franca also ensures that there are other
speakers in addition to native speakers.
ELF might also replace the language that previously has been used as a
lingua franca. For example, Russian has lost its status in Eastern Europe as a
language of inter-state communication. This is due to the former Soviet
Union and its language policy that led to conflicts between the native
6
This visibility may also indicate that there is a need for the varieties of English as a global language to be
more accurately described. Phillipson (2008: 250) uses the following terms: English as “a lingua
economica (in business and advertising, the language of corporate neoliberalism), a lingua emotiva (the
imaginary of Hollywood, popular music, consumerism, and hedonism), a lingua academica (in research
publications, at international conferences, and as a medium for content learning in higher education), or a
lingua cultura (in the literary texts of English-speaking nations that school foreign language education
traditionally aims at, and integrates with language learning as one element of general education). English is
definitely the lingua bellica of wars between states (aggression by the US and its loyal acolytes in
Afghanistan and Iraq, building on the presence of US bases in hundreds of countries worldwide). The
worldwide presence of English as a lingua americana is due to the massive economic, cultural, and
military impact of the USA.” Phillipson also acknowledges the harm that monolingualism brings to
linguistic diversity. Language policies tend to favour lingua frankensteinia (emphasis original) and this
leads to linguicide. (Ibid. 251.)
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
languages and Russian. Russian was treated as a hegemonic language that
could have suppressed local languages. (House 2003: 561.) The replacement
of earlier lingua francas with ELF might result in another interesting
consequence that is rather paradoxical consequence. The spread of ELF may
encourage members of minority languages to cherish their local languages
and as a result, strengthen local varieties and cultural practices. (Ibid.)
For those of us who use the English language as a lingua franca, it can be
only a means of communication. It is a foreign language that does not bear
negative connotations for Finns, perhaps because Finns have not been
colonialised by countries from the inner circle. The choice of which
language we use might be influenced by the idea that some languages are
regarded merely as a means of communication while others are a means of
constructing one’s identity (House 2003: 559–562, see also Mustajoki 2011).
Generally, native languages are considered to be connected to identity and
lingua francas to mere communication. Lingua-franca interactions may
remain neutral and equal, because ELF is often nothing more than a
functional tool without a heavy emotional burden. However, ELF is also
used in more intimate intercultural relationships and friendships, therefore
making it safe to assume that people do use ELF to show signs of affection
and dislike, too.
2.2 Diaspora Russian and Colloquial Russian
As mentioned earlier, the status of the Russian language has changed since
the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the present situation varies
among the countries and regions where Russian is spoken. According to the
HSE Institute of Demography (IDEM), in 1989, when the last census of the
USSR was conducted, the total population was approximately 286 million.
Of these, an estimated 145 million were Russian by nationality, which
constitutes 50.8% of the population. However, owing to the language shift,
57.2% of the population spoke Russian as their mother tongue 7. The first
official census of the Russian Federation was conducted in 2002. According
to this census, the population of Russia was approximately 145 million
people, of which 116 million, or 80%, were Russians. 8
In other post-Soviet republics, the number of Russian speakers has
declined. According to the State Statistical Department of Russia, in 1996,
less than 23 million ethnic Russians remained in the Near Foreign countries
7
8
http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php, accessed 18.1.2013.
http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_nac_02.php, accessed 18.1.2013.
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
(Zevelev 2001: 117–118). Moreover, the Near Foreign countries have
adopted different types of language policies and practices. Following the
1995 referendum, Belarus is thus far the only country that has upgraded
Russian to an official language (Aref’ev 2012: 40–48, Zevelev 2001: 106).
The policies range from the aforementioned Belarusian policy to the
legislation of the Baltic countries, which determines that the titular language
is the main language of the country (Alpatov 2003). Other countries are
positioned more or less between these two extremes. For example, in the late
nineteen-nineties and in the early decades of the twenty-first century,
Uzbekistan went through a series of reforms. The Russian language was
removed from streets signs as well as from signs showing place names. In
addition, Russian was deleted from the names of institutions, and the official
language was transferred from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin alphabet.
The status of Russian likewise began to change in 2005 when Russia and
Uzbekistan signed a strategic partnership. (Aref’ev 2012: 120–121.)
For the Baltic countries, the term derussification has been used to refer to
the tendency of Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian societies to replace the
Russian language with their titular languages, in the areas such as
government, administration, education, and science. In some cases, the
process of derussification is being accelerated (Alpatov 2003: 428). The
status of the Baltic countries is somewhat different from other post-Soviet
countries. Pavlenko (2006) writes:
This derussification course – unlike that taken by any other post-Soviet country –
is best understood through a combination of historic and sociopolitical factors.
Annexed by the Soviets in 1940, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania already had an
experience of independent statehood and returned to it after a little more than four
decades of the Soviet rule. They had spent the least time in the Soviet Union and
their citizens had high levels of national consciousness and language loyalty,
vehemently opposing russification. These states also chose to orient themselves
toward the West economically, socially, and politically.
However, as Pavlenko (2006) points out, the initial stages of this
derussification process were the most dramatic and painful for the Russianspeaking population. Today independent states understand and acknowledge
the usefulness of the Russian language, and Russian has regained its
previous status as a language of interethnic communication. Russian culture,
both high and popular, also plays an important role in these countries and
contributes significantly to the process of maintaining the Russian language.
As mentioned before, Belarus has upgraded the status of the Russian
language by adopting it as an official language. The situation of the
Belarusian language is therefore peculiar in comparison to the other Slavic
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
languages. Taking into account the number of speakers of Belarusian, it may
be regarded as a middle-sized Slavic language. However, as Zaprudski
(2007: 98) observes:
In spite of the considerable demographic potential of the Belarusian language in
comparison with some other Slavic languages, there are indicators that are not as
positive. There are many important communicative domains in which Belarusian
is either not used at all or only to an insignificant degree. These include science,
higher education, the armed forces, legal proceedings, large-scale business,
legislature, and so on. Given its communicative power, Belarusian in Belarus
undoubtedly yields to Russian in many key spheres.
The Belarusian language has undergone a series of russification processes
that have affected aspects such as the orthography of Belarusian (ibid. 108–
109). The resulting mixed code that includes both Belarusian and Russian
elements is referred to as trasjanka, which literally meansʻa mixture of hay
and straw’ (ibid. 111).9
In the European Union, Russian is the fifth most widely spoken foreign
language (Eurobarometer 243: 5). Especially television programs and radio
news in Russian are understood in those European Union members that were
previously part of the Soviet Union (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; ibid.
30). However, generally speaking, the knowledge of Russian has declined in
countries such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic (ibid.
16). In those countries, Russian is no longer taught at school to the same
extent as it was after World War II (ibid. 142).
In addition to the above-mentioned Near-Abroad Russian diaspora, the
ethnic Russians have also mass migrated abroad. There has also been an
interest in studying and observing that language usage (Glovinskaja 2001,
Zemskaja 2001). However, these studies often concentrate on those features
that indicate, for example, the degree of preservation or loss that the Russian
language has undergone (Zemskaja 2001; see also Avina 2000 & 2002 for
the Russian language in Lithuania; Dubinina & Polinskaja 2013 in the USA;
Zhdanova 2012 in Germany).
When the social and historical background information of the diaspora
speakers is taken into account, one could use the term ‘heritage speakers’ to
refer to them. The term ‘heritage language speakers’10 refers to people who
are raised ‘in a home where one language is spoken who subsequently
9
In the Ukraine, the mixed code is called suržik, which literally means the ‘flour or bread made from
mixed grains’.
10
The term can be translated into Russian using different types of words or structures. One possibility is to
use referents such as domašnyj jazyk, ‘home language,’ or semejnyj jazyk, ‘family language’. With special
reference to Russian heritage speakers, Dubinina & Polinskaja (2013: 13–14) suggest the term ljudi s
unasledovannym russkim which translates,ʻpeople with inherited Russian’.
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
switch to another dominant language’ (Polinsky & Kagan 2007: 368). This
research has predominately focussed on English, meaning that the dominant
language examined in the research is usually English and the heritage
language could be, for example, Russian (ibid.; see, however, Kopeliovich
2010 for the situation in Israel). One of the main features of heritage
languages is that they have not been completely acquired or they are
affected by the dominant language (Kopeliovich 2010: 407–411). Heritage
languages are used at home, which means that the speakers must switch to
the dominant language when they are outside family settings. Of course, the
knowledge of the heritage language varies among its speakers, and one must
also consider the enormous variation within the language itself. (Polinsky &
Kagan 2007: 369–370.)
Observing the structure of the language of the Russian diaspora,
Zemskaja (2001: 200–208) has analysed the increase in analytic structures
that occur in the speech of émigrés. These analytic structures include aspects
such as indeclinable nouns and adjectives. However, the indeclinability of
nouns and adjectives is somewhat dependent on the individual who is
speaking the language. For instance, the noun kèš, ‘cash’, is usually
indeclinable, but some speakers may decline it (ibid. 202). Another
interesting phenomenon is the mixing of words that have a similar
pronunciation, but that sometimes overlap with the meaning (Glovinskaja
2001: 458–459). Speakers confuse two words that sound very similar: uže –
už, ‘already – so’.
Research has focussed primarily on the actual language and its forms, but
the use of language as a part of naturally-occurring interaction has attracted
less research interest. One of the areas that has been studied is functional
sentence perspective (abbreviated as FSP). The term FSP means that a
sentence structure is analysed in terms of textual elements rather than
grammatical elements. Textual elements include, for example, the theme–
rheme structure. In practice, sentence structure analysis is more or less
identical with word order analysis. (Hakulinen & Karlsson 1995: 41.) The
theme of a sentence refers to the subject of discussion while the rheme refers
to what is being said about the subject.
Glovinskaja (2001: 424–426) observed that diaspora speakers tend to
produce erroneous structures including both theme and rheme. Typically,
these mistakes involve an unusual word order. For example, the rheme
might be placed incorrectly (the borderline between the theme and the
rheme is marked with //): kvartira emu // prinadležala, ‘the flat him //
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
belonged’. In this case, the theme is kvartira emu and the rheme,
prinadležala. The appropriate order of the words would be kvartira
prinadležala // emu, ‘the flat belonged // to him’. The sentence presupposes
that there was a flat and it belonged to someone, and the new information is
that it belonged to a certain man.
Due to the close geographical and historical relations between Finland
and Russia, Finland has also played, and continues to play, a significant role
in the Russian migration as well as the research on language use (see, for
example, Protasova 2004 for an overview of the Russian migration to
Finland). The former USSR and Russia comprise the largest group of
foreign origin among the Finnish population (OSF). 11 The Russian migration
has occurred in waves. Traditionally, five waves are considered to have
taken place (Protasova 2004: 6–7). The first wave occurred before Finland
became a part of the Russian Empire. During the Grand Duchy of Finland
1809–1917, Russian soldiers, officials, merchants and priests immigrated to
Finland. Many of those first- and second-wave families are still recognised
in Finland, such as the brewery family of Sinebrychoff. Finland became a
transit country for many people who fled Russia after its two revolutions.
Some of them continued their flight to Prague, Berlin and Paris, while others
remained in Finland. The fourth wave occurred during World War II when
Ingrian Finns along with some representatives of other nationalities
migrated to Finland, but most of them were sent back to the Soviet Union
after the war. Between World War II and the dissolution of the Soviet Union,
immigration consisted predominantly of those Russians and other those of
nationalities of the Soviet Union who married Finns. This type of
immigration is not usually considered to constitute a specific wave. The
latest wave began in the early 1990s when the remigration of the Ingrian
Finns became possible. Most of these Ingrian Finns use Russian as their
mother tongue. However, the remigration queue was closed in 2011. 12 In
addition, other Russian speakers have immigrated to Finland from Russia,
Estonia as well as from other parts of the former Soviet Union.
Research has thus far focussed on the morphological and
morphosyntactic features of Finland Russian. Leisiö (2001) has studied the
convergence and integration in the morphosyntactic aspects of Finland
Russian. The departure point for Leisiö’s research is that language change
11
It is not a surprise that the same observation is also valid when considering the informants of this study.
The largest group consists of Russians and apart from Finnish, Russian is also the most used language in
the word-search sequences.
12
Mononen 2013.
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that is contact-induced entails a process that is affected by an interplay of
social, linguistic and interactional factors (ibid. 15). For example, the
Finnish and Swedish languages affect the word order of the Russian genitive
construction, and this influence is most clearly discernible in the sphere of
the determiner genitive, and more specifically, the genitive of the possessor
and the genitive of the subject (ibid. 96).
Kaivapalu (2005) examined how a source language (in this case,
Estonian and Russian) can contribute to foreign language acquisition,
concentrating on morphological aspects, especially on the inflection of the
plural forms of Finnish nouns. Estonian learners used two strategies when
producing the plural forms of Finnish nouns: analogy with the target
language and analogy with the source language. Russian learners began their
inflectional process by applying rules, only using analogy when processing
by rules did not succeed.
One of Finland’s neighboring countries, Estonia, has a different historical
background with Russia. In the 20th century, Estonia was independent for a
while between the world wars, but after World War II, it became a part of the
Soviet Union. Estonia regained its independence in 1991. A fourth of its
population is Russian speaking, including both the people who have lived in
the area of present-day Estonia for hundreds of years (so called Old
Believers) and the people who either immigrated voluntarily to Estonia or
were forced to immigrate due to population transfers. (Hennoste et al. 1999,
Verschik 2007.)
Since Finnish and Estonian are kindred languages, albeit grammatically
somewhat different, the somewhat forced language contact between
Estonian and Russian is an interesting phenomenon (see, for example,
Verschik 2004, 2006; Zabrodskaja 2009). Contact between these languages
has been two-way so that contact-induct changes have occurred in both
languages. For example, the system of local cases in Estonian has had an
impact on the Russian language (Verschik 2006). Estonian and Finnish, have
three interior and three exterior cases to express directional, static and
separate meanings. Russian has no specific category of local cases. Thus,
prepositional phrases are used to express spatial relations. (Ibid. 388.) The
respondents in Verschik’s study claimed that some Russians might say, kupit’
iz aptek-i, ‘to buy out drugstore-GEN’ (ibid. 398). However, the appropriate
grammatical form in the Russian language would be kupit’ v aptek-e, ‘to buy
in the drugstore-PREP’. The genitive case in the erroneous Russian structure
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
is equivalent to the Estonian structure osta apteegi-st, ‘to buy drugstoreELA’.
Verschik has also conducted studies in Tallinn on receptive
multilingualism (RM). Although Finns as tourists are not always cordially
welcomed by their southern neighbours, their importance to the Estonian
economy is significant. Receptive multilingualism refers to cases ‘in which
interlocutors use their respective mother tongue while speaking to each
other’ (Zeevaert & ten Thije 2007: 1). RM has been studied, for example, in
Scandinavia and Switzerland (for instance, see Doetjes 2007, Werlen 2007).
The Scandinavian languages are closely related to the Germanic languages,
whereas in Switzerland, the situation is somewhat complex because it entails
both the Germanic languages and Romance languages. In the FinnishEstonian context, receptive multilingualism results in Finnish customers and
Estonian salespersons using their own respective mother tongues that are
mutually intelligible to some extent, but differ from each other rather
significantly (Verschik 2011). In the actual conversational situation, the
Finnish and Estonian participants have multiple ways of making their
language use comprehensible and they produce forms that do not belong to
either of the monolingual varieties (ibid. 269). A possible word formation
can consist of an Estonian or Finnish stem to which Finnish or Estonian
inflectional morphology is subsequently added (ibid. 278). Although
Estonian salespersons are more likely to accommodate their speech to make
it sound more like Finnish, Finnish tourists do not always speak only
monolingual Finnish, either (ibid. 280). In fact, Finns are usually aware of
the differences between Finnish and Estonian and they might be cautious of
using only monolingual Finnish.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many Russians returned to
Russia. For example, from the years 1990 to 1997, approximately 2.4
million Russians returned to Russia from what is called Near Foreign
countries (examples are Central Asia, Transcaucasia; Zevelev 2001: 122).
However, one cannot assume that this type of repatriation could occur on a
larger scale. Many of the ethnic Russians living in the Near Foreign
countries in the diaspora were born in those countries, have lived their more
than ten years, or they have intermarried (Avina 2000: 52). As Zevelev
(2001: 123) states this succinctly:
There is no reason to believe that most Russians will ‘return’ to their ‘historic
homeland.’ Many Russians consider Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, or the Baltic
States to be their homeland because several generations of their ancestors lived
there. Besides, there are other powerful factors restraining migration, such as a
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
lack of adequate affordable housing in Russia. Therefore, one may conclude that
Russian diasporas will remain an important feature of all newly independent states
of Eurasia for the foreseeable future.
This new linguistic situation requires new approaches because it
complicates the research area. For example, to what extent do Russians
remain Russians with respect to their language use and traditions? Or, is it
even necessary to adhere to those concepts? However, the situation needs to
be observed with the help of large studies that combine linguistics (e.g.,
contact linguistics) and area and cultural research. 13 For example, the future
of Russian language can be twofold in Central Asia. On the one hand, the
language might be preserved but on the other hand, changes in its form and
grammar might lead to consideration whether a new variety of Central Asian
Russian language will emerge (Podporenko 2001).
The research of the colloquial Russian language that is used in Russia has
focussed on describing the different regional varieties or the language that
are spoken by different social groups (Zemskaja et al. 1981, see also
Mustajoki 2013a for an overview). One of the research areas of colloquial
Russian is the language form that occurs in cities. The term used for this
type of language use is ‘prostorečie’ or ‘gorodskoe prostorečie’, which can
be translated as. ‘urban vernacular’, ‘common speech’ or ‘colloquial
language’. However, this term can be defined more broadly as a form of the
Russian language that is used by uneducated strata of society (D’jačok 2003:
103). If the status of this colloquial language is compared to the literary
language, it can be said that it is non-normative and socially constrained
urban speech that is situated outside of the literary language (Kapanadze
1984: 5). Unlike regional varieties or dialects, this urban speech does not
have a particular region or locality where it is used. In contrast to the literary
language, this language form differs in many respects. Urban speech has
different phonetic and lexical characteristics, such as different intonation
patterns, the use of curse words, and obscene vocabulary. (D’jačok 2003:
105–106.)
13
The above-mentioned Kachruvian Circles could also be applicable to the situation of the Russian
language. Inner circle includes native Russian used in Russia and, at least to some extent, in Belarus and
Eastern Ukraine. The Near Foreign countries belong to the outer circle countries that have been a part of
the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union. The expanding circle includes those countries that acknowledge
the economic importance of the Russian language. This approach, however, requires additional research.
For example, considering the history of Finland, it could be part of the outer circle, but it currently belongs
to the expanding circle because the status of Russian was diminished after Finland became independent in
1917.
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
To facilitate the research on spoken Russian, corpora are also available.
For example, the Russian National Corpus 14 also includes a corpus of
spoken Russian. This corpus consists of speech that is both public (52%)
and private (10%). The corpus mostly consists of transcripts of films.
(Grišina & Savčuk 2009: 134.) Lexical, morphological and semantic
searches are possible and an individual researcher can also construct a
subcorpus by using sociological parameters (ibid. 137–138). In St.
Petersburg, the researchers have collected a vast amount of spoken material
in the framework of a project entitled Odin rečevoj den’, ‘One speech day’.
Basically, the informants of the corpus had a dictaphone on for a whole day.
Therefore, a range of communicative situations were taped. (Asinovskij et
al. 2010.) These situations included shopping, doctor’s appointments, cafés,
bars, hobbies, as well as other contexts (Bogdanova et al. 2010: 51).
Diaspora Russian shares some characteristics with the above-mentioned
urban vernacular. Both are considered to be the uncodified domain of the
spoken urban speech (Zemskaja 2001: 207). However, there are also some
major differences between them. The speech of the Russian immigrants
contains indeclinable nouns and adjectives that are not used in Russia.
Speakers of urban vernacular decline words that are indeclinable in the
literary language, such as declining the word pal’to, ‘coat’, even though it is
indeclinable: bez pal’ta; ibid.) It is also possible that old émigrés can have
certain elements in their speech that could be characterised as resulting from
the urban vernacular. This could be due to their visits to Russia after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. (Zemskaja 2001: 254–255.)
As mentioned previously, the research conducted in CA or the research
on the Russian language from an interactional linguistic perspective has not
acquired a lot of attention. Makarov (2003) presents the key concepts of
conduction research on spoken discourse. In addition, Isupova (2002)
introduces the basic methods of CA as well as the techniques that are used in
CA-based research. These books and articles are written in Russian, but they
do not cover spoken discourse in Russian. Nevertheless, there are some
interesting studies concerning CA-based research on the Russian language
in conversation settings. For example, Paukkeri (2006) analysed the
particles da, ‘yes’, nu, ‘well’, and tak, ‘so’, as the actions by the recipients in
spontaneous Russian conversation. Paukkeri concluded that the particles
‘nu’ and ‘tak’ were used in an informing context, while ‘da’ was used in
affective contexts. Bolden (2004) examined the onset and the offset of
14
http://www.ruscorpora.ru/en/index.html
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2 Research on English as a lingua franca and non-standard forms of Russian
reported speech that are marked in ordinary talk. In her analysis, Bolden
discovered that in most cases, quotations are separated from other talk for
many reasons. The separation occurs at the beginning of quotes and at the
end. This is achieved through a variety of devices including grammatical
framing, re-anchoring devices, prosodic shifts for their onset as well as
several repositioning devices and sequence organisation practices for their
offset.
39
3 Previous research and key concepts
This chapter will present an introduction to the key concepts for jointly
produced structures. Subsections 3.1 and 3.2 specify the research questions
of the present study and construct the ways that the data are analysed in the
study. Subsection 3.1 is devoted to collaborative productions and subsection
3.2 concentrates on word searches.
3.1 Organisation of turn-taking in relation to collaborative productions
This chapter is devoted to an overview of how turns in a conversation are
constructed as well as how they are allocated in interaction. When two or
more participants produce a structure together, this chapter examines how
they accomplish this and how they orient to this process. Thus, my aim is to
define my research questions from a broader perspective, to specify them
and explicate how the selected methods and approaches are appropriate for
this type of analysis.
The focus of this kind of analysis is on the organisation of turn-taking
(Sacks et al. 1974). The basic unit of turn-taking is the turn-constructional
unit (TCU), which refers to sentential, clausal, phrasal or lexical
constructions (ibid. 702). A turn can contain one or more TCUs. TCUs can
constitute potentially complete turns and on their possible completion, a
change in speakers can become relevant (Sacks et al. 1974: 702–704;
Schegloff 1996: 55; Selting 2000: 478, 480). A change in speakership
depends on a complex interplay of grammatical, prosodic and pragmatic
cues (Couper-Kuhlen & Selting 1996; Ford & Thompson 1996; Ford et al.
1996; Sacks et al. 1974; Schegloff 1996; Selting 1996, 2005). A projection
of the possible turn completion in conversation is thus crucially dependent
on cues that are predominantly linguistic in nature (Couper-Kuhlen &
Selting 2001: 5–6).
The linguistic units of a conversation are defined as a part of interaction
and their boundaries are negotiated throughout a conversation. For this
reason, an application of traditionally syntactic terms (such as the clause or
phrase) is not straightforward means of describing those units. Instead, the
terms used for these purposes are based more on dialogue and on context
than on pure syntactic premises. Those terms include turn, TCU and
utterance. For example, when a change in speaker occurs, the ongoing turn
40
3 Previous research and key concepts
has reached its end. Therefore, a turn is defined by a speaker change. (VISK
§ 1004.)
Koivisto (2011) focussed her analysis on conjunctions in her dissertation
and she differentiates a twofold between a turn and a TCU (ibid. 26). While
a turn is something that can be observed retrospectively as a part of
interaction, it is a materialized contribution of interaction (see Goodwin
1981: 20, Selting 2000: 511). Nonetheless, a TCU is a hypothetical, possible
turn (see also Schegloff 1996: 55). The boundaries of a turn are defined by
way of organisation of turn-taking, whereas a TCU is interpreted as
completed if certain sequential and functional criteria are met. A TCU has to
be an appropriate contribution in context. (See also Sacks 1992b: 43.) For
example, Koivisto (2011: 29–30) defines her scope of research that she
studies those TCUs that end in a conjunction. After this conjunction, the
transfer of speakership can occur, but it is not necessary. The same speaker
can also continue his or her TCU.
A change of speakership can occur at the end of every TCU, which is
called a ‘transition relevance point’ or TRP. One of the essential factors that
influences the organization of turn-taking is syntax. The ending points of
different syntactic structures are also possible turn completions. (Hakulinen
1997: 42; Sacks et al. 1974: 704, 721.) In one of the groundbreaking studies,
Oreström (1983: 68) established five linguistic features that operate as
signals of the possible completion of a turn. Those features are prosody,
syntax, semantics, loudness, and the silent pause. The combination of
prosodic, syntactic and semantic features forms a major juncture for a
change in speakership. (See also Ford & Thompson 1996: 153–154, Tiittula
1985 for Finnish conversations.) Furthermore, turn size is usually locally
managed as well as interactionally achieved therefore the turn size is not
prearranged (Sacks et al. 1974: 700–701).
Turns are allocated according to certain principles and rules. One of the
most important rules is that turns are coordinated to minimise the gap and
overlap so as to make the transition smooth. Three rules can be applied
during conversation. Firstly, the current speaker can select the next speaker,
in which case the selected speaker has the right and is obliged to take the
next turn. Secondly, if the current speaker does not select the next speaker,
self-selection occurs. Furthermore, whoever begins to talk first acquires the
right to a turn. Thirdly, if the turn-so-far does not involve any of these
scenarios, the current speaker may continue. If the first two rules have not
been in effect at the initial transition-relevance place, and the current
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3 Previous research and key concepts
speaker has continued his or her turn, then these three rules are re-evaluated
at the next transition-relevance place until the transfer has occurred. (Sacks
et al. 1974: 704, see also Duncan 1972.) It is also possible for the firstspeaker’s turn to be interrupted by another speaker, so that the first speaker
can produce a delayed completion (Lerner 1989).
A point of transition relevance can be projected. At the beginning of a
turn, projecting the TRP is often difficult or even impossible, but it becomes
easier when the linguistic structure of the turn-in-progress becomes more
apparent. Moreover, different languages differ in terms of the type of
projections they allow. For example, English allows early projection,
whereas Japanese does not (Thompson & Couper-Kuhlen 2005: 485–488).
If we examine the notion of projection more thoroughly, it can be
understood as an individual action or part that foreshadows another. In order
to understand what is being projected, participants need some degree of
knowledge about how actions (or action components) are typically
sequenced, that is, how they follow each other in time. (Auer 2005: 8.) Auer
(ibid.) continues on describing limitations that apply to projections:
Each projection has a time span. [---] An action (or action component) may
project onto the timing slot immediately following it and make some next activity
(component) expectable in this slot. But it may also allow other things to happen
‘in between’, before the projected unit legitimately can or should occur, and it
may project more than one ‘next’ in a sequence.
While it might seem highly likely that projection is used to complete
utterance completing, projection might also be used for other purposes. For
example, focussing on French, Chevalier and Clift (2008) have reported that
participants in French conversations do not necessarily complete unfinished
turns. Instead of completing the turns, ‘recipients provide responses fitted to
the unfinished turns, instead of completing the turn’ (ibid. 1736). In such
cases, the projection is not dismantled. This is possible due to the French
syntax. Traditionally thinking, French is a Subject + Verb + Object (SVO)
language (as are Finnish and Russian), but the direct and indirect object
pronouns have to be placed before the verb. In other words, the verb occurs
at the end of the sentence, resulting in the number of possible verbs
becoming narrower. (Ibid. 1735.)
It is also possible that the current speaker uses incomplete structures on
purpose, to indicate that the turn has not yet reached a transition-relevance
place and to reserve the turn for him- or herself (Sacks et al. 1974: 702–703,
719–723; Schegloff 1996: 92–93; Routarinne 2003: 23–24). The possible
sentence can also become rather long and the syntactic projection can extend
42
3 Previous research and key concepts
far. However, on the syntactic level, only the possible sentence can be
projected. For example, in multi-unit-turns, stories have to be initiated by
announcements or story prefaces. Thus, syntax can be used as a turn-holding
device only concerning the unit under way. (Local & Walker 2004,
Schegloff 1982: 75–77, Selting 1996: 374–375.) Prosody as a means of
managing the organisation of TCUs and turns is used locally, that is, to
project and contextualise relations between items (ibid. 378). This does not
mean, however, that syntax and prosody can be placed in a hierarchical
order, in which syntax is number one and prosody number two. In some
cases, prosody might have differentiating power. (Ibid. 384.)
Projection is connected to the temporal sides of interaction. Thus, the
course of linguistic structures is often anticipatory and the completeness of
utterances can usually be interpreted. However, the strength of projections
varies. From the perspective of sequentiality, the strongest projection occurs
in adjacency pairs. (Auer 2005: 16.) Adjacency pairs somewhat resemble
collaborative productions, but the pairs are produced in a slightly different
manner. Adjacency pairs consist of two parts, the first pair part and the
second pair part, which are pronounced by two participants (Schegloff &
Sacks 1973: 295–296). These parts are adjacent, and the type of the first pair
part is relevant to the form of the second pair part (ibid.). Typical examples
of adjacency pairs include the exchange of greetings as well as sequences
that include a question and response (Duranti 1997: 251–252, Raevaara
1997: 76).
The similarities and dissimilarities of collaborative productions and
adjacency pairs have not been studied systematically or in depth. Some
differences are observable regarding the syntactic and prosodic features of
the utterances. If we take a closer look at the syntax, we can see that after
the preliminary component, collaborative productions are syntactically
unfinished and they require a final component to be syntactically complete.
In most cases, the prosodic pattern of the utterance is also not completed
following the preliminary component. In adjacency pairs, the first-pair part
is usually syntactically and prosodically completed, but that pair needs the
second pair part to be recognized as a conversational action. Thus, while an
adjacency pair is a part of sequential organization, a compound TCU is a
43
3 Previous research and key concepts
resource for turn-taking (Schegloff 2007: 9, see also Lerner 2004b: 151–
152).15
3.1.1 Compound-TCU, secondary TRP
The conversational structure of collaborative productions can be defined by
how the organisation of turn-taking proceeds (see, Sacks et al. 1974). As
mentioned earlier in this thesis, it is often assumed that a speaker is entitled
to one turn constructional unit (TCU). A completion of a TCU constitutes an
initial transition-relevance place (TRP), which is a place where a transfer of
speakership can occur (ibid. 703). The unit of collaborative productions is
the compound turn constructional unit (compound TCU; Lerner 1996: 240)
and participants construct these together. These units consist of a
preliminary component uttered by one speaker, and a final component
uttered by another speaker (Helasvuo 2004: 1316). In terms of turn taking,
the above-mentioned transition-relevance place typically occurs at the end
of the final component. The preliminary component then projects the
possible form of the final component in the TCU (Lerner, 1996: 240).
Typical instances of compound TCUs consist of sentences with conjunctions
(when-then, if-then) (Lerner 1991: 442).
Between the components there may be a pause, an inhalation, or another
element that allows speaker B to participate in completing the utterance.
Pauses of this type can be referred to as intra-turn pauses16. They are also
located in the middle of a turn and not between them (Lerner 1996: 260; see
also Kurhila 2006: 100, 104). A transition can also occur without a pause or
components can slightly overlap.
The format of a compound turn-constructional unit is primarily a
resource for turn-taking. As a resource, a compound TCU can be used to
project the next appropriate place for a speaker change. That is, ‘it provides
for the sequential possibility of anticipatory completion’ (Lerner 1991: 445,
emphasis original). If another participant produces an anticipatory
completion, it can initiate a collaborative turn sequence. The proffered
completion can then be either accepted or rejected and this action becomes
relevant as a responsive action. (Lerner 1996: 241, 2004a: 229.)
15
See also Ford (2001) for findings concerning turn and sequential organisation. According to Ford, the
current speaker can continue speaking after the TCU has been completed, such as elaborating what was
previously said (ibid. 60).
16
If the pause is situated after a possible completion of a turn-constructional unit (that is, inter-turn
silence), it can be referred to as a delay (see, for example, Wong 2004: 114).
44
3 Previous research and key concepts
According to Lerner (2004a: 231), the collaborative turn sequence occurs
within one speaker’s turn space, not in the space of two turns separated by a
TRP. Since the transfer of speakership occurs within one speaker’s turn
space, it collides with the common turn-taking practice. When this occurs,
the next speaker begins to talk within the turn space that is allocated to the
prior speaker (Lerner 1994: 21). Traditionally, the speaker change occurs at
the possible completion of a TCU. In compound TCUs, interactants
construct the transition-relevance point together (Helasvuo 2004: 1316,
Lerner 2004a: 240). The transfer of speakership therefore occurs within a
compound TCU and this makes it a secondary place for the transfer.
Although the place is secondary, it is still a systematic place for the transfer.
(Lerner 1991: 454.)
Final components can be pre-emptive in nature, meaning that they are
‘produced as a rendition’ of what the other was going to say’, but are not
composed as a guess (for instance, with a try-marker) that would explicitly
invite acceptance or rejection’ (Lerner 2004a: 229). However, the original
speaker can consider them as being candidates that can either be accepted or
rejected (ibid. 229–230).
It is also possible to compare the organisation of the collaborative turn
sequences with the repair phenomenon. According to Lerner (2004a: 232),
both pre-emptive completion and other-initiated repair locate the just prior
speaker’s talk as the object on which the turn sequence operates. They both
systematically select that just prior speaker as next speaker. The prior
speaker then has the right and the opportunity to control a turn to its
completion. Lerner (ibid.) argues the following:
For next-turn repair initiators this means having a right to repair any trouble even
though it might be located by another participant. For collaborative turn
sequences, this means maintaining control over what the completion will look like
even in the face of a second participant making a bid for speakership within their
turn space.
The next action after the pre-emptive completion is allocated to the
original speaker. Both the speaker of the original turn-in-progress and the
speaker of the pre-emptive completion orient to it. (Ibid.)
Let us consider the notion of the compound TCU in the following
example. There are two collaborative productions, but the example is not
exceedingly long. In first excerpt, the subject under discussion is
mincemeat, which the participants consider to be very typical food in
Finland. At the beginning (lines 1–2), the current speaker, S, suggests that
perhaps immigrants also prepare some type of mincemeat sauce, which is
45
3 Previous research and key concepts
something that Finns would prepare themselves. In line 3, speaker A
suggests that another possible dish could be meat loaf. As we can see, the
completion is placed near the end of the unit (cf. Lerner 1996: 261–263).
Syntactically, this addition is enabled by the coordinating conjunction vai,
‘or’, which is pronounced at the beginning of the turn.
In the second excerpt (from line 21), the participants are discussing
Finnish sausage, which refers both to a trademark as well as to a specific
word in colloquial Finnish (sininen lenkki, ‘blue sausage’). Although not
everyone is certain that all immigrants consume this Finnish delicacy in
their everyday diet they suggest that, for example, Japanese immigrants may
put wasabi on the top of it. The original speaker in this example, S, likewise
pronounces the added word and confirms it suitability. It is evident that both
the speaker of the preliminary component and the speaker of the final
component orient to the turn after the final component as though it belongs
to the original speaker (Lerner 1996: 232).
(3) MV 43., 44. <01:00:10>
01 S:
02
→
03 A: →
21 S:
22 T:
23 S: →
24 T: →
25 S:
>Ni
ni<
valmista-a-k-s
se sii-- teke-e-k-s
Well well
prepape-3SG-Q-CLI 3SG it
make-3SG-Q-CLI
se sii-t jauhelihakastikkee-n.
3SG it-ELA mincemeat:sauce-GEN
Well does he prepare it does he make mincemeat sauce of it.
Vai teke-e-k-s
se sii-t jotai
.hh [(.)
Or
make-3SG-Q-CLI 3SG it-ELA something
Or does he make something of it
[Muruke.
Meat loaf.
((17 LINES REMOVED))
[Ja sit se,
And then 3SG
And then it,
[J(h)oo.
Yeah.
»>laitta-a sii-hen jotain< [.hh
put-3SG
it-ILL something
puts there something
[päälle.
PRT
on top of it.
vai jotai
päälle.
Or something on top of it.
The transition can occur without a pause and can continue the prosodic
pattern of the utterance (Szczepek 2010). In some cases, the final component
can slightly overlap with the preliminary component. However, as Sacks,
46
3 Previous research and key concepts
Schegloff & Jefferson (1974: 708) define a smooth transition (from one turn
to a next), it covers those transitions with no gap and no overlap as well as
transitions that are characterized by a slight gap or overlap This also applies
to collaborative productions because they are usually formed so as to not
disturb the ongoing conversation.
3.1.2 Formal aspects and functional aspects
Collaborative productions have been analysed from a variety of
perspectives. Different researchers emphasise slightly different aspects that
range from strict syntactic analysis to examining the social nature of the
phenomenon. Sacks (1992a, 1992b) touches upon the phenomenon in his
lectures on conversation analysis and discusses them under several headings
(for example, collaboratively built sentences, 1992a: 144–149; see also
Sacks 1992b: 56–66). Lerner (1991, 1994, and 1996) refers to them as
sentences-in-progress and his work in this area may be called groundbreaking. Both Sacks and Lerner are interested in characteristics that enable
the participants to construct collaborative sentences. The social nature of
these sentences provides a syntactic resource for the interlocutors to do
something together. (Lerner 1991: 441, Sacks 1992a: 145.)
Helasvuo (2004) and Ono & Thompson (1995, 1996) focus on the
syntactic aspects of the phenomenon and they use the term co-construction.
As Ono & Thompson (1995: 221) emphasise, ‘the realization of syntax is
both locally managed and extremely dynamic’. Szczepek (2000a, 2000b)
and Local (2004) adopt the broader term collaborative production, which
does not adopt a strong stance in relation to the nature of the phenomenon.
Within the wider framework of interactional syntax, co-constructions can
be divided into two groups according to their syntactic types, as extensions
and completions (Grenobl’ 2008: 25, Ono & Thompson 1995: 227–228, Ono
& Thompson 1996: 75; see Sacks 1992a, on completers and recompleters).
The differences between these types can be detected in their names. The first
type, extension, refers to a situation in which speaker B expands what
speaker A has stated into a new syntactic unit. For example, this could be
achieved by adding a prepositional phrase to an already complete clause
(Ono & Thompson 1996: 78). The second type, completion, refers to
speaker B completing (or being offered an opportunity to complete) a
syntactic unit that speaker A has left unfinished (Ono & Thompson 1996:
75, 1995: 227–228). In extension, the addition is accepted by the first
speaker (Lerner 2004a: 236, Ono & Thompson 1995: 227).
47
3 Previous research and key concepts
Helasvuo (2004: 1317) analysed the co-constructions in Finnish
conversations and focussed on the completions that had the preliminary and
the final parts that were syntactically more closely intertwined. These
completions involved the co-construction of one clause and in addition to
the analysis of their syntactic structure they were also analysed in terms of
their interactional organisation within the sequence. Helasvuo argues that
completions can occur both at constituent boundaries and within
constituents (within a noun phrase) (ibid. 1317). The preliminary part
determines the form that the final takes, such as personal deixis (ibid. 1332).
Helasvuo (ibid. 1317) arrives at the conclusion that ‘syntax is shared and
jointly produced, from the smallest units up to larger sequences’.
Szczepek (2000a: 3) considers collaborative productions as means to
form a social group within a conversational setting. During those
productions, interlocutors use syntax as a linguistic resource for social aims.
Szczepek (2000a, 2000b) discusses both the formal and functional aspects of
collaborative productions in her two articles. Formally, Szczepek (2000a: 5–
9) analyses productions with respect to their syntactic, prosodic, and
interactional units. However, as Szczepek (2000a: 16) emphasises, that type
of division of linguistic levels is feasible only analytically. For interlocutors,
however, all the levels are constantly interwoven, and this includes the
prosody, pragmatic content, interactional activities and syntax. Functionally,
collaborative productions are used to accomplish four broad, conversational
actions. These actions include duetting, displaying understanding,
borrowing, and eliciting information. Interactional co-operation occurs when
the participants collaborate in telling a story, when they help one another in
their word searches or in when they display understanding one another.
(Schegloff 1984, Szczepek 2000b.)
3.1.3 Co-constructions and increments
In addition to the above-mentioned criteria, turn-taking and syntax are also
connected. Syntax is a means of controlling turn-taking, but turn-taking and
the recipient’s action influence the syntactic form of the turn. If the recipient
does not take the turn at the first possible point of transition relevance, the
current speaker may either continue with a new TCU, or extend his or her
turn by using a syntactically appropriate extension. (Couper-Kuhlen & Ono
2007: 513–514; Ford et al. 2002; Sacks et al. 1974: 704, 726–727; Schegloff
1996: 59). In other words, a turn can be constructed incrementally and the
end of a turn can either be possible (turn-so-far), or it can be the actual end
48
3 Previous research and key concepts
of a turn that involves a transfer of speakership (Ford & Thompson 1996:
143, Schegloff 1996: 55).
The term ‘extension’ can also be applied when the current speaker
somehow extends the turn after the possible transition-relevance point.
These extensions can be referred to as increments (Schegloff 1996: 90–91,
see also Fox 2007: 308). 17 An increment creates a new TRP in which the
transfer of speakership can occur (Ford et al. 2002: 16). Some researchers
also consider the cases in which the extension is not placed in the TRP;
these extensions are called non-add-ons (Couper-Kuhlen & Ono 2007: 515).
Turn extensions are usually grammatically dependent and backward
oriented, extending the prior action (Couper-Kuhlen & Ono 2007: 547). If
the extension is prosodically integrated with the prior unit without a TRP, it
is a non-add-on. If the extension is placed after a TRP, it is an add-on. If the
extension repairs some part of the host, it is a replacement. Non-repairing
extensions can be divided into two categories in terms of their grammatical
suitability. For example, glue-ons are grammatically fitted to the end of the
host. In contrast, insertables do not properly fit the end of the prior unit, but
they have some characteristics that allow them to be interpreted as
belonging somewhere within it. Retrospectively, these new elements can be
considered as constituting a part of the prior unit. (Ibid. 515.)
Another type of increment is the free constituent or the unattached NP
increments (Couper-Kuhlen & Ono 2007: 525, Ford et al. 2002: 26).
Unattached NPs do not extend the syntax or the action of the previous unit.
According to Ford, Fox & Thompson (2002: 26), ‘the speaker comes to a
place of possible completion and then adds an NP that cannot be interpreted
as a syntactic part of the just possibly-completed turn’. The distribution
between the different interpretations is twofold. Firstly, unattached NP
increments create a new point (an additional TRP) ‘at which a recipient
could display appropriate responsiveness (after lack of uptake)’ (ibid.).
Secondly, unattached NP increments also establish a stance or an assessment
of a referent that was produced in the previous unit (ibid.).
If the classification above is applied to collaborative productions, certain
similarities can be detected. Although the term ‘increment’ usually refers to
the extensions that the original speaker makes, an increment does share
some characteristics with co-constructions and the way that co-constructions
are built. However, a typical co-construction possesses features that are
17
If the ongoing TCU is halted and a short remark is added, this can be called a parenthetical sequence
(Mazeland 2007, Duvallon & Routarinne 2001).
49
3 Previous research and key concepts
somewhat contradictory. The second part of a typical co-construction is
usually a non-add-on, which means that it is prosodically integrated with the
prior unit without a TRP. In addition to this, the second part is usually also
non-repairing in nature but rather a grammatically fitted glue-on or
somehow belonging to the prior unit which would be then analysed as an
insertable.
The final component of a co-construction can be termed differently,
depending on which of its aspects are adopted as a starting point. For
example, continuation is intended to be neutral; it suggests that the coparticipants of a conversation are producing something that could be
interpreted as a continuation to what was previously said. It does not assume
a strong position with respect to syntactic or conversational structures.
These aspects could, however, also be taken into consideration when
examining continuations. One might also observe the direction of the final
component. Turn extensions are usually analysed as being backwardoriented because they continue the previous unit. If a new unit initiates a
new action, it is forward-oriented. (Couper-Kuhlen & Ono 2007: 513–514.)
However, this position has been challenged. For instance, Koivisto (2011:
63) classifies syntactic extensions as forward-looking, while explanations
and post-extensions are backward- looking. If a turn initiates a new syntactic
and functional entity, it is referred to as a change of direction.
3.2 Repair organisation in relation to word searches
When analysing word searches, I will adopt Kurhila’s (2006: 91) suggestion
to regard word searches as part of the repair organisation. This organisation
can be understood as a an umbrella term for the various procedures that
interactants use to deal with problems they encounter in producing, hearing,
or understanding talk18 (Schegloff et al. 1977: 361, Sorjonen 1997: 111).
Repair sequences consist of two parts: a trouble-source turn (the repairable)
and a repair turn, which may be preceded by a repair initiation. The
repairable may possess some specific features (for example, errors or
18
Some researchers find the original definition of repair too narrow. Other-initiation of repair involves
displaying a problem within the domains of speaking, hearing, and understanding. Svennevig (2007: 336),
for example, regards the formulation “problems of speaking” as too narrow: “However, to my mind the
formulation ‘problems of speaking’ evokes a too narrow conception of the nature of the problems, namely
as being just a matter of ‘misspeaking’. But the problems may concern many aspects of producing an
utterance that is recognized as a valid or felicitous social action in a given situation. In addition to linguistic
problems (pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, etc.) it also includes acceptability problems, such as saying
something ‘wrong’ in a wide sense, that is, untrue, inappropriate, irrelevant, etc.”
50
3 Previous research and key concepts
mistakes in speech production) which enable the repairs, but that is not
necessary (Schegloff et al. 1977: 363).
I have decided to focus on those word-search sequences that involve both
the self and the other. That means the self-initiations that lead to self-repair
are left outside the analysis. Kurhila (2006: 96) focusses on ‘substantial’
word searches in which the speaker attempts to involve the recipient in the
search process: “By addressing the recipient, the speaker treats her as being
the knowledgeable participant and creates an expectation that she will
contribute to finding a solution.”
3.2.1 Who repairs and under what circumstances?
Schegloff el al. (1977) were the first researchers to describe repair
organisation in conversation for the first time. For them, there is a difference
between the terms ‘repair’ and ‘correction’, and they see them hierarchically
organized. ‘Repair’ is a more general term, whereas ‘correction’ represents a
sub-group of a repair (ibid. 363).
The term 'correction' is commonly understood to refer to the replacement of an
'error' or 'mistake' by what is 'correct'. [---] Some occurrences, clearly in the
domain with which we are concerned, do not involve the replacement of one item
by another. For example, a 'word search', which can occur if an item (e.g. a word)
is not available to a speaker when 'due', is in the domain which we address, but is
not a 'replacement' or a 'correction.
In conversation, repairs can be self-initiated or other-initiated (ibid. 365).
Self-initiation means that the repair is initiated by the current speaker,
whereas other-initiation indicates an initiation by the recipient or by the
interlocutor (for example, see Fox et al. 1996). Either participant can then
make the actual repair. If the repair is performed by the current speaker, it is
referred to as self-repair, and if the repair is performed by the interlocutor, it
is known as other-repair (Sorjonen 1997: 114–118). In terms of the social
organisation of interaction, neither of these types is to be treated as an
independent type of possibility or event. They are not structurally
equivalent, equipotential, or equally valued. Rather, self-repair and othercorrection are organisationally related. Self-correction is preferred to othercorrection. (Schegloff et al. 1977: 362, 370, 375–376.) It is common for the
current speaker to interrupt his or her turn and self-repair it. In these cases,
the linearity and uni-directionality of the spoken language become visible.
This means that what has been said cannot be retracted. If one wants to
rephrase something that one has said, he or she can perform a self-repair and
begin again. (Fox 2007, Auer 2009.) In situations where the repair is other51
3 Previous research and key concepts
initiated, the first speaker usually concludes the repair. Both self-initiated
repairs and other-initiated repairs allow self-correction. (Schegloff et al.
1977: 377, Sorjonen & Laakso 2005.) In principle, a repair might be
relevant to any sentence (Schegloff 1979: 269).
Although my aim is not to analyse cases in which the initiation and the
actual repair is self-performed, the following example illustrates a typical
instance of this. In this example, a self-initiation leads to self-repair (see, for
example, Fox & Jasperson 1995).
(4) MV <7:56>
01 M: →
Lena
Lena
ko-me-Lena
tule-e
huomenna koska
mei-llä
on
huomenna
come-3SG tomorrow because 1PL-ADE
be.3SG tomorrow
kov-- ko↑kouspäivä?
mee?-- meeting:day
comes tomorrow because we have tomorrow a meeting day?
The participants in this example are discussing a new staff member who
is scheduled to begin work at their workplace later that month. Speaker M is
attempting to understand why this new staff member, Lena, will come to
work the following day even though her contract has not begun yet. She
suggests that the reason for Lena’s early visit could be related to their having
another meeting that day. M self-initiates the search, cuts off twice (ko-,
kov-) and finally finds the correct word (kokouspäivä) without any help from
the other participants.
As Lerner (2004a: 262) observes, ‘repair organisation seems to divide the
opportunity to contribute to the search into ‘immediate’ and ‘delayed’
contributions’. Thus, if the word- search candidate is delayed, it provides the
current speaker with an opportunity to self-repair (ibid.). Often the
correction is directed at a lexical unit, such as word choice, but the speakers
also correct single sounds or case endings (Schegloff et al. 1977, Sorjonen &
Laakso 2005: 244).
The search can also be self-initiated, but only when the actual repair is
undertaken by the other. In this example, M is trying to decline the noun
tapa, ‘habit’, in line 3, and faces problems with the consonant gradation p
and v.
(5) MV <00:05:00>
01 M:
>Minä kunnioita-n< ↑erilais-i-a
pien-i-ä
1SG respect-1SG different-PL-PTV small-PL-PTV
ma-i-ta.
country-PL-PTV
I respect all kinds of small countries.
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3 Previous research and key concepts
02
03
→
04 S: →
05 M:
Ol-i
kysymys vain sii-tä se on
kulttuuri-sta ö,
Be-PST.3SG question only it-ELA 3SG be.3SG culture-ELA
VOC
It was a question only about that. It is cultural,
Se tapa kysymys tapa-sta?
3SG habit question tapa-ELA
It habit a question about habit.
tava-sta,
habit-ELA
About a habit.
>tava-sta tava-sta.<
habit-ELA habit-ELA
About a habit a habit.
Consonant gradation is a relatively common phenomenon in Finnish,
occurring in word stems. It relates to the stop consonants p, t and k when
they are preceded by voiced sounds, that is, vowels or voiced consonants. In
Finnish, both the quantity (tt:t) and the quality of stops (t:d) varies. (VISK §
41.) In the example above, the gradation between the consonants p and v
seems to be problematic, which is understandable because it is more
common for the consonant t to alternate than for the consonant p (ibid.).
When describing these types of instances, the term ‘correction’ is
applicable. The term ‘repair’ can be used when the speaker produces an
alternative expression for something the other speaker has said, whereas
‘correction’ refers to cases in which an alternative version is produced to
replace a linguistic unit that can be regarded as erroneous according to the
norms of standard language. (Kurhila 2006: 20, Schegloff et al. 1977: 363.)
In the previous example, an incorrectly declined noun was replaced with a
normative form.
Both self-initiations and other-initiations are positioned in a systematic
manner in relation to the trouble source, and they clearly differ from each
other in terms of this position (Schegloff et al. 1977: 365). Self-initiations
have three main types of position. First, they may be placed within the same
turn as their trouble source. Second, they may be placed in the transition
space of the trouble source turn. Third, they may be placed in the third turn
after the trouble-source turn, that is, in the turn subsequent to that which
follows the trouble-source turn. By contrast, other-initiations only occupy
one main position: the turn just subsequent to the trouble-source turn.
(Schegloff et al. 1977: 366–367, Schegloff 1992.)
If we examine the sequential context of initiations, it becomes clear that
self-initiations occur temporally earlier than other-initiations. This
assumption is also confirmed by Kurhila’s data (2006: 96):
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3 Previous research and key concepts
However, it is quite common in my data that both types occur during a search
sequence: the speaker is first doing a self-directed search, and if this does not lead
to a result, the search then is directed to the recipient. In other words, I have left
out cases where the speaker disrupts her speech in the middle of a TCU but finds
the target word without (seeking) help from the recipient.
As we observed earlier, self-repairs and other-repairs are not equivalent.
In self-initiated repairs, the initiator can cut off a word and then either
produce the correct alternative him- or herself or ask another participant to
assist. Other-initiations also differ from each other in relation to how they
are initiated. It has been suggested that the other who initiates the repair will
likely first try the least feasible solution, preferring to address the problem
as being caused by difficulties in hearing rather than in understanding or
acceptability. (Svennevig 2008: 333, 347; see also Mustajoki 2012: 222.)
Curl (2004) examines other-initiated repair sequences in American
English from a phonetic viewpoint, and states that turns treated as trouble
sources can be either fitted or disjunct. According to Curl, fitted turns ‘are
appropriately designed and placed to fit within the structure set up by the
prior turn or sequence’ (ibid. 8), whereas disjunct turns ‘are sequentially or
interactionally inappropriate in relation to the prior turn and/or sequence’
(ibid. 10). Phonetically, fitted turns are louder and have longer durations
than disjunct turns (ibid. 41). Disjunct turns are not louder and have similar
articulatory settings (ibid. 19). Reproduction of lexico-syntactic features can
be used in order to solve possible hearing problems, while phonetic cues
display the co-participant’s orientation to the sequential appropriateness of
the turn being repaired (ibid. 1).
According to Schegloff (2007: 101), the least specific other-initiation
takes the form of vague queries such as ‘Huh’ or ‘What?’, after which
specificity may be increased in order to locate the trouble (for instance,
‘Who’ or ‘Where’). The initiator may also repeat the target repairable and, in
the most specific of type of other-initiation, offer for confirmation some
formulation of how the trouble-source was heard or understood. One of the
ways in which a speaker can initiate a repair is pausing his or her turn. Other
ways include separate search sounds (‘mm’, ‘uh’, and ‘er’). At a later stage,
speakers may also make the search more explicit with questions such as
‘What is it’ (Schegloff et al. 1977: 363, 367).
Mazeland and Zaman-Zadeh (2004) have studied other-initiated wordclarification repair in Finnish lingua franca interactions. In their data, nearly
all instances of other-initiated word-clarification repair occur after an initial
attempt at a hearing repair had failed. This leads them also to establish a rule
54
3 Previous research and key concepts
of ‘non-firstness’ in word-clarification. Sorjonen’s (1996) study of repeats
and responses in Finnish-language conversation also reports on a common
pattern in which the requests for clarification and disaligning actions are
preceded by repeats + confirmation.
In some cases, word-search sequences resemble collaborative
productions. Word searches allow collaborative completion and they can be
described as being grammatically designed for conditional entry by
recipients (Lerner 1996: 261–263). Furthermore, word searches provide an
opportunity for the recipients of talk to participate in the search and to
collaboratively complete it collaboratively. A collaborative completion is
typically designed so that only the next word sought is produced. Following
the search sequence, the primary speaker may continue his or her turn.
Lerner (ibid.) noted that the search is often placed near the end of the unit,
and this provides a place for the co-participant to complete the unit in
progress.
In the following example, M is talking about reality shows that she
dislikes. This type of word-search sequence could be interpreted as one that
enables collaborative completion.
(6) MV 38. <01:34:41>
01
M:
02
S:
03
M:
04
S:
05
T:
06
S:
07
M:
08
S:
Kyllä se on
se on
kiinnostava asia.
Yes
3SG be.3SG 3SG be.3SG interesting thing
Yes it is a very interesting thing.
Se on
roska-a,
3SG be.3SG rubbish-PTV
It is rubbish,
Mutta ihmiset katso-vat si-tä.
But
people watch-3PL 3SG-PTV
But people watch it.
Ihmiset ↑halua-vat si-tä.
People
want-3PL 3SG-PTV
People want it.
Miksi,
Why,
[LEIPÄ-Ä JA] sirkushuvi-a.
Bread-PTV and circus-PTV
Bread and circuses. ((from Latin: panem et circenses))
[Kaksi vaihto]ehto-a,
Two alternative-PTV
Two alternatives,
Nii-PRT
Yea-
55
3 Previous research and key concepts
09
M: →
10
T: →
11
M:
Ei ole
vaih-- vaihtoehtoʔ vaihto-a,
NEG be.3SG alt-- alternative change-PTV
There is no alt- alternative- change,
(1)
Vaihtoehto-a. ((tavuttaen))
Alternative-PTV
(There is no) alternative. ((syllabifying))
Vaihtoehto-a.
Alternative-PTV
Alternative.
Speaker M faces difficulties in finding the correct word (line 9). M has
pronounced and declined the word appropriately in line 7, but due to the
loud voice and the overlap with speaker S, M displays uncertainty regarding
the noun choice she has made. In line 9, she begins with the cut-off word
vaih-, then pronounces another cut-off word, vaihtoehto ʔ (Although this
could also be interpreted as the nominative case of the word, it is
pronounced with a glottal stop at the end; glottal stops or cut-off words are
sounds that signal problems in clause formation. [Schegloff et al. 1977:
367].) Finally, she pronounces the word vaihtoa, ‘change’, which has the
same beginning as the compound noun vaihtoehto, ‘alternative’. After this,
she pauses for one second. T helps her in line 10 and produces the right form
which M then confirms.
As can be seen in example 6, the syntax of word-search sequences can be
fragmented. The speaker begins with one syntactic construction, but when
he or she is unable to find an appropriate word, the construction is left
incomplete and a new one is begun. (Helasvuo et al. 2004: 1.) This differs
from collaborative productions analysed in this study because their syntactic
structure is formed differently. Although the preliminary component is
syntactically incomplete, the final component is produced so that it
completes the structure.
It is also possible for the recipient to produce more than word in order to
resolve the search sequence. In such cases, the recipient can produce the
correct word as a part of his or her own utterance. In the following example,
speaker N attempts to construct the Russian compound noun gossanitar,
‘state orderly’, which consists of the truncated adjective gos- (from
gosudarstvennyj, ‘state’) and the noun sanitar, ‘orderly’ (see, for instance,
Zemskaja et al. 1981: 126–127). In line 3, speaker E produces the correct
word and accompanies his turn with the affirmative particles da, ‘yes’.
56
3 Previous research and key concepts
(7) TI 19. <6:12>
01
N: →
02
03
E: →
04
N:
A
èto-t
(-) ili kto-to
mne
ska↓za-l-ø
vy
VOC 3SG-MASC (-) or someone-CLI I.DAT say-PST-MASC 2PL
rabota-l-i (.) esli ja pravil’n-o ponja-l-a?
work-PST-PL (.) if
1SG correct-ADV understand-PST-FEM
A that or someone said to me that you worked if I understood
correctly?
Èt-o
by-l-o
taka-ja rabota čto vy
3SG-NEU be-PST-NEU such-FEM work
that 2PL
proverja-l-i (.) kak san-- [é,
check-PST-PL (.) like san- VOC
It was that kind of word that you checked like sani-,
[È: san-- gos[sani
(-) da da.
VOC san-- state:orderly (-) yes yes
State:orderly yes.
[Èt-o
t-o
(.) horos-o.
3SG-NEU 3SG-NEU (.) good-ADV
It it okay.
Although the ongoing word-search sequence might cause disturbances in
the sequential context and hence in the progressivity of the utterance, the
search is usually organised to show that participants are attempting to
continue the TCU. However, a halt in the TCU progressivity allowed
another participant to produce an opportunistic completion for the TCU.
They are built and treated as turn-completing actions. Usually only the
searched-for next word is actually produced. (Kurhila 2006: 155; Lerner
2004a: 229, 261.)
3.2.2 Candidate understandings – somewhere in between word searches
and collaborative productions
I have emphasised that collaborative productions and word searches form a
continuum and that their interpretation depends on thorough sequential and
linguistic analysis. In collaborative productions, the progressivity of a turn
need not be disrupted, whereas in word searches, the need to secure the
intersubjectivity surfaces the conversational level as well. However, the
disruption caused by word-search sequences does not necessarily have to
extend to a longer sequence. In some cases, it is also possible for either the
speaker or the recipient to shift focus to certain elements in the prior speech
instead of providing the (projected) next relevant turn. These types of
instances involving a co-participant articulating his or her interpretation of
the previous turns can be referred to as candidate understandings (Kurhila
2006: 153–217).
57
3 Previous research and key concepts
Sequentially, a candidate understanding functions as the first pair part of
an adjacency pair because it projects the confirmation of the next turn
(Kurhila 2006: 155; Lerner 2004a: 229, 261; Schegloff & Sacks 1973: 295–
96.) Although this does not constitute a typical instance of adjacency pairs
(such as the exchange of greetings or question-answer sequences; Duranti
1997: 251–252, Raevaara 1997: 76), it is a sequentially recognisable action.
In relation to compound TCU’s, the sequential context of candidate
understandings is somewhat different. A compound TCU is a resource for
the organisation of turn-taking and an adjacency pair for the sequential
organisation (Schegloff 2007: 9, see also Raevaara et al. 2001: 15–16). A
turn produced with the help of a compound TCU only comprises one turn,
even though two speakers are producing the parts of the compound TCU.
When a speaker experiences something as problematic in the prior turn,
the speaker can either repair the problem or check his or her understanding
of the problematic utterance. In other words, the speaker can articulate his or
her understanding of the other speaker’s meaning. While such articulations
shift focus on the previous turn(s), they need not be solely backwardoriented (as is the case with corrections). As the speaker uses his or her own
words to describe what he or she thought the other speaker was saying, he or
she often introduces new elements into the conversation. So, rather than just
modifying the prior turn, articulations may advance from the problematic
situation by presenting a potential interpretation of the trouble turn. (Kurhila
2006: 153–217.)
The following example illustrates a candidate understanding that is
projected rather than being backward-oriented. This example concerns
immigrants who live in Finland, but they are examined from a different
perspective:
(8) PM 6. <40:55>
01
02
03
D:
Se on
mu-n
oma mielipide.
3SG be.3SG 1SG-GEN own opinion.
That is my own opinion.
syyt-- yhdistet-ään sii-hen teidä-n oma seminaari
prin-- connect-4
3SG-ILL 2PL-GEN own seminar
ei-kö
me men-nä vähän pois sii-tä meiä-n teema-sta.
NEG.3SG-Q 1PL go-INF little away it-ELA 1PL-GEN theme-ELA
But if we connect that to your own seminar do not we go a
little far away from our theme?
58
3 Previous research and key concepts
04
F:
05
D:
06
F: →
07
F:
08
D: →
Ei: ei (-) koska
se on
se .h ö
<päätavoite> että
NEG NEG (-) because 3SG be.3SG 3SG .h VOC main:goal
that
me-kin puhut-aan vapaaehtoisuut-ta ja maahanmuuttaja että
1PL-CLI talk-4
voluntary-PTV
and immigrant
that
miten se vapaaehtoisuus vo-isi
palvel-la (.) tai
how
3SG voluntary
can-CON.3SG serve-INF (.) or
palvel-la vai m(h)iten [sano-a se-n
että .h
serve-INF or how
say-INF 3SG-GEN that .h
No no because it is a main goal that we also talk about
volunteering and the immigrant that how that volunteering
could serve or serve or how to say it that
[Joo.
Yeah.
miten maahanmuuttaja vo-isi
(.) ä
miten se ↑autta
how
immigrant
can-CON.3SG (.) VOC how
3SG help.3SG
maahanmuuttaja kotoutumise-en.
immigrant
integration-ILL
How an immigrant could how it could help an immigrant to
integrate.
Että: se on
se,
That 3SG be.3SG 3SG
That it is that,
Sii-hen ↓toiminto-on.
3SG-ILL action-ILL
To that action.
In terms of conversational repair, these candidate understandings can be
categorised as other-initiations of repair: they present a possible
understanding of the trouble turn which can be either confirmed or
disconfirmed by the speaker of the trouble turn (cf. Schegloff et al. 1977).
What has been stated previously is paraphrased and summarised, and the
actual candidate understanding can begin with a particle (Kurhila 2006:
161). According to Kurhila (ibid. 155), ‘candidate understandings are used
to check the level of shared knowledge between the participants’. Any
unclear relations that arise between separate turns can be clarified by
elaborations. The current speaker can also check his or her interpretation of
the prior speaker’s turn. From an interactional perspective, producing
candidate understandings demonstrates, albeit tentatively, that participants
are co-operating, and this emphasises the non-problematic nature of the
interaction. (Ibid. 181–182.)
59
4 Data and transcription
The data of this study comprise approximately eleven hours of naturally
occurring conversation, ranging from everyday situations to institutional
settings in Finland and Russia. The data were either audio-taped or
videotaped. Some conversations were recorded in both ways. I have
collected the Finnish data myself, but the Russian data have been partially
obtained from colleagues 19. My goal was to obtain as versatile material as
possible. Of course, would I have concentrated on specific situations, I
would have obtained material that was more similar. Nevertheless, very few
studies have been conducted on both Finnish and Russian as lingua francas,
so it is important to observe different types of conditions of use.
The basic assumption of CA-based research is that utterances are always
multifunctional and they cannot be analysed without a context. For this
reason, a quantitative approach to the subject does not suit conversation
analysis. (Lappalainen 2004: 20, see also Seidlhofer 2009: 49 on ELF
research.)
This study is not quantitative, but the generalisations presented are based
on an analysis of an extensive number of examples. The number of instances
is provided in the table below:
Table 1. The number of examples.
Collaborative
Word searches
productions
Candidate
understandings
Finnish
32
37
8
Russian
24
14
15
Total
56
51
23
A total of 130 examples were examined. In addition to these, an analysis
was carried out on several borderline cases that occurred both outside of
these categories and within them. The different groups will be presented
more thoroughly in chapters 4, 5, and 6. In some of the categories, the
19
I am extremely grateful to Jalmari Auvinen, Nina Dobrushina and Noora Lemivaara-Khudoikulova for
sharing their data with me.
60
4 Data and transcription
distribution of the examples between those two languages might seem
disproportional for some activities, such as word searches, but their
occurrences can be motivated through other factors.
Although to some extent I observe the language use of my informants in
relation to colloquial Finnish and Russian, the data is insufficient for
charting regional and social variation. In certain conversations, aspects such
as the standard forms and colloquial forms of personal pronouns (mina-mä,
minun-mun) are used slightly differently depending on the theme and the coparticipants in the conversations. With respect to the Russian examples, the
participants use the colloquial forms of certain adverbs, for example sejčas –
sčas, ‘now’, prodlënka, ‘continuation of lesson’ (for instance, see Ermakova
1984, Kapanadze 1984). However, my database is rather heterogeneous. As
my data consist of approximately 60 non-native speakers with a wide range
of language skills and linguistic backgrounds, it was not possible to focus on
a particular ethnic identity.
In addition to recordings, I also recorded notes on situational factors,
such as who sits where and whether participants moved during the
recording. The video camera was usually placed to the side of the actual
conversation or meeting, but a dictaphone was placed on the table among
the participants. In some of the recordings, the video camera was relocated
to a more suitable place during the recording. All participants were asked for
their permission to use the recorded material for this study. In addition, the
names of the participants in the examples have been changed.
The transcription of the data is time-consuming, but on the other hand,
this suggests that the researcher is very well aware of the nature of his or her
data and also of its shortcomings. Concerning this study, this means that not
all the material is applicable, for example, for phonetic measurements. This
is because the recordings were collected at different times and with a
different set of equipment. Many of the recordings also contained various
types of additional noise (cows mooing, children crying, sounds of cooking,
etc.) that would make a phonetic analysis difficult and complicate the
comparison of the results. Therefore, when analysing the prosodic features
of the conversations, I can only observe them with the same accuracy as the
actual participants, that is, without the help of electronic devices. (cf. Lilja
2010: 25.)
Next, I will introduce my data with greater detail and describe the
transcription and glossing conventions used in this study.
61
4 Data and transcription
4.1 Finnish data
The Finnish conversations were taped in a variety of places and situations.
The conversations took place in workplaces, in different meetings and gettogethers. Furthermore, the different types of meetings of non-governmental
organisations were taped. One resource for informants and natural
conversations was the community colleges and the Finnish courses they
offered.
The participants have very different linguistic backgrounds: more than 20
mother tongues are represented and many of the participants describe
themselves as either being bilingual or multilingual. The most frequent
mother tongue mentioned is Russian, but many participants spoke either
Arabic, Somali, Kurdish, or Turkish. Overall, a high number of my
informants reported that they know Russian either as a second language or
as a first foreign language. These informants were born either in the Soviet
Union or came from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and
they learnt Russian at school. When I recorded the material, this selection of
Russian-speaking participants was not a conscious choice, but it was
understandable. According to Statistics Finland 20, at the end of the year 2012
more than 60,000 Russian speakers lived in Finland and they comprise a
quarter of the whole foreign-language speaking population21.
One of the conversations consists of two Finns interacting. If the notion
of lingua franca interaction is interpreted in its purest sense, then it refers to
those communicative situations in which the participants do not have a
common language (House 1999, Seidlhofer 2001). However, some
researchers also study contexts in which both native and non-native speakers
are present (Mauranen 2009a, Suviniitty 2012). For example, Suviniitty
(ibid. 36) observes that “as with all language use, a certain degree of
fuzziness has to be accepted.”
Even though differences exist between the different participants’
language skills, I presume that we cannot reduce the conversation in a
foreign language to characterize it as being merely a collection of erroneous
20
The Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Population structure [e-publication]. ISSN=1797-5395. 2012,
Appendix figure 2. The largest groups by native language in 2002 and 2012. Helsinki: Statistics Finland
[referred: 5.3.2014]. Available at: http://www.tilastokeskus.fi/til/vaerak/2012/vaerak_2012_2013-0322_kuv_002_en.html.
21
According to the Constitution of Finland, there is no official language in Finland, but the national
languages are Finnish and Swedish. The constitution also mentions the Sami as an indigenous people of
Finland, and the Roma and other groups have the right to maintain and develop their language and culture.
Sign Language is likewise mentioned in the constitution.
62
4 Data and transcription
utterances. In fact, the participants tend to not even pay attention to obvious
grammatical errors, possibly because they focus more on problems that arise
and these become the object of conversation through their cooperation.
Moreover, speakers who know a language better would be unlikely to adopt
a teaching role in order to instruct the unknowing participant in acquiring
better language skills. However, it is interesting that the participants
comment rather frequently either on their own mother tongue, or on the
others’ mother tongues. They usually do this by comparing their languages.
For instance, they comment on the Finnish language having or not having
some particular feature that may or may not occur in their mother tongue.
The descriptions of the overall conversational settings and participant
relationships are provided below. Nonetheless, the figure provided in the
table does not necessarily reflect the actual duration of the whole recording
or the speech event.
Table 2. Finnish material.
Name of the segment,
abbreviation used in examples
Monivisio, MV
Duration
120 min
1 recording
Intensive course, IC
15 min
1 recording
Conversation course, CC
42 min
2 recordings
Women’s Night, WN
30 min
2 recordings
Finnish language course
60 min
acquaintances, FC
7 recordings
Project meeting, PM
30 min
1 recording
Total
4 hours 6 minutes
63
4 Data and transcription
Monivisio, one recording (120 min)
A staff meeting of a multicultural radio and television project. Seven
participants are discussing future activities concerning television and radio
programmes. The television and radio programmes are broadcast in five
languages: Finnish, Russian, Turkish, Persian and Somali. Two Finnishspeakers are participating in the meeting.
Intensive course, one recording (15 min)
An intensive course in the Finnish language. Seven participants of Russian,
Danish, German, and Portuguese descent are cooperating in group tasks
during a lecture.
Conversation course, two recordings (42 min)
A Finnish conversation course. Two groups of three participants are
discussing different subjects together, such as how a sense of humour is
perceived in different countries. The first group consists of speakers of
English, Spanish and Lithuanian, the second group has one Lithuanian and
two Russian participants.
Women’s night (Cuba & Mexico), two recordings (30 min)
These recordings contain two discussions, one involving three Cuban
women who have moved to Finland many years ago. In addition to the
Cuban women, other immigrant women participate in this discussion. These
participants are comparing the different ways of life with the Finnish
participant.
This includes another discussion that concerns a Mexican photojournalist
who has lived and worked in Finland for several years. In addition to this
photojournalist, immigrant women are also participating in this discussion.
The participants discuss the Finnish immigrant policy and how immigrants
could become active players in Finnish society.
Finnish language course acquaintances, seven recordings (69 min)
The interlocutors in these recordings have met each other in their Finnish
course. The number of participants varies from nine to eleven. The
participants are from Somalia, Estonia, Morocco, Albania, Russian, Japan,
and Turkey. Their Finnish teacher is originally from Russia. The recordings
were taped before their lectures and during their breaks. The group also
64
4 Data and transcription
allowed me to participate in their homework sessions. The conversations
range from grammatical debates to discussion about their weekend plans.
Project meeting, one recording (30 min)
This meeting is a gathering of representatives (Russian, Persian, Romanian,
Somali, and Slovenian) from different non-governmental organisations.
They are discussing events such as seminars that they are planning to
organise. Certain organisations, such as the Finnish Red Cross, have
different types of projects that are organised for immigrants. Usually these
projects are short-term, as they consist of the launch, the actual working and
a closing seminar.
4.2 Russian data
The Russian conversations were taped in Russia, Tajikistan, and Dagestan.
One of the conversations was taped in Finland. The conversations took place
at workplaces and informal get-togethers. In addition, different types of
meetings of associations were taped. In one of these conversations, two
Russians participate in the conversation.
Table 3. Russian material.
Name of the segment and the
abbreviation used in the examples
Interviews in Tajikistan, TI
Duration
100 min
4 recordings
University meeting, UM
30 min
1 recording
Dagestan meetings, DM
74 min
2 recordings
Students in Ivanovo, IS
97 min
2 recordings
Total
5 hours 1 minute
65
4 Data and transcription
Interviews in Tajikistan, four recordings (100 min)
Four Russian interviews were conducted in Tajikistan. The same
interviewee asks four Tajik people about their language use and preferences.
University meeting, one recording (30 min)
This is an unofficial, informal get-together after a seminar. The professors,
teachers, and students are discussing educational issues and research
perspectives in a more relaxed atmosphere. The eleven participants are from
Japan (4), from Finland (5), and from Russia (2).
Dagestan meetings, two recordings (74 min)
Two Russian interviews in Dagestan with speakers of Northeast Caucasian
languages such as Avar, Lezgian, and Tabasaran. The interviews touch upon
the traditional livelihood of Dagestan, the language use and the language
histories of different speakers.
Students in Ivanovo, two recordings (97 min)
These recording involve a Finnish exchange student who conducts two
interviews with other exchange students in Ivanovo in the Russian
Federation. One of the students is from the Ivory Coast, the other from
Angola. Due to their ethnic background, they both have encountered
problems in Russia. During the interviews, the Finnish student attempts to
determine how these students have observed Russian society and how they
have experienced discrimination.
4.3 Discourse transcription, interlinear gloss, and translation
The examples in this study have been transcribed in accordance with the
conversation analytic conventions that were developed by Gail Jefferson (as
formulated in Seppänen 1997).22 The transcription and glossing symbols are
explained in the Appendix. The turns in the examples are mainly represented
in three lines: the first line is the original Finnish or Russian utterance; the
second is the gloss line; the third line appears in bold and is an approximate
English translation. 23 Because the linguistic structures of Finnish and
22
Russian researchers tend to use other ways of transcribing (for example, see Kibrik & Podlessakaja
2003).
23
It should be noted that the glossing is based on the markedness of the items. The following categories are
treated as unmarked and left unglossed: the singular form, the nominative case, the present tense and the
active voice. The different types of infinitives and participles that occur in Finnish and Russian are not
specified. They are labeled as the INF and PCP, respectively.
66
4 Data and transcription
Russian differ from English, translating them may sometimes present
problems. It is true that many ‘non-native speech features’ that are produced
by the NNSs of Finnish and Russian surface at the morphological level in
connection with such linguistic aspects as case endings. I have transcribed
conversations based on the participants’ actual language use so that the
language in the examples has not been corrected. Ungrammatical instances
will not be included in the analysis unless the participants themselves make
them the topics of their speech. 24
As not all of the conversations have been video recorded, I have been
unable to observe gaze and gestures systematically. Furthermore, in some
video recordings, some of the participants have their back to the video
camera and for this reason, their gaze and gestures cannot be observed.
Hence, I have decided to concentrate on the verbal construction of jointly
produced structures. Still, whenever the recordings have made it possible to
analyse gaze and gestures in accordance with the individual examples, I
have utilised this possibility. I will not, however, make generalisations based
on the analysis of these individual examples.
All conversations have been thoroughly transcribed in accordance with
sequential organisation, pauses and overlaps. With the help of this type of
preliminary transcription, I was able to locate most cases in which the
participants jointly produce structures. These turns and sequences were then
more thoroughly transcribed.
But how does one transfer a spoken form of a language into its written
form? Languages have different orthographic conventions and this affects
the transcription process (for example, see Markee 2000: 59). It can be
problematic to transfer non-native Finnish or Russian into a written form,
since a non-native speaker can pronounce certain speech sounds in a way
that differs from standard Finnish or Russian pronunciation. However, I
have decided to use the basic Latin alphabet with certain Finnish letters (ä,
ö). The Russian examples have been transliterated from the Cyrillic script
into the Latin alphabet in accordance with the scientific transliteration of the
Cyrillic alphabet (see table 4).
24
Although the used language form is not the primary theme for research, I have noted some of the
possible tendencies in language use and provided the corresponding examples. Two observations are
needed beforehand. Firstly, the possible cases of ungrammatical language use are occasional in the sense
that not every speaker shares the same forms or uses the language similarly. Secondly, as mentioned
previously, these are only possible tendencies, meaning that I have not paid attention to every single
instance. All in all, these cases might turn out to be useful when planning future research.
67
4 Data and transcription
I have also used actual words in the gloss line whenever possible. This
means that the prepositions or postpositions are translated with the
corresponding English words (for instance, kanssa, ‘with’, krome, ‘except’).
Moreover, different types of discourse particles or continuers are expressed
by using similar English expressions (mhy/ugu, ‘uhhuh’, aga, ‘aha’; see, for
example, Schegloff 1982, see also Lukina 2005 [2003], Sorjonen 1999).
Finally, vocalization markers are used to indicate hesitation sounds.
Table 4.
Cyrillic letter
а
б
в
г
д
е
ё
ж
з
и
й
к
л
м
н
о
п
р
с
т
у
ф
х
ц
ч
ш
щ
ъ
ы
ь
ю
я
Tranliteration to
latin letter
a
b
v
g
d
e
ë
ž
z
i
j
k
l
m
n
68
o
p
r
s
t
u
f
h
c
č
š
šč
″
y
′
ju
ja
5 Collaborative productions
I will now focus on the structures that the participants produced
collaboratively in conversation (for example, see Ferrara 1994; Grenobl’
2008; Helasvuo 2004; Lerner, 1991, 1996, 2004a, 2004b). In these cases, a
pre-emptive completion of one speaker’s turn-constructional unit by a
subsequent speaker can operate on that unit to transform its production into
a sequence that can be referred to as a collaborative turn sequence. (Lerner
2004a.) We can also examine the structure of the conversational units from a
wider perspective, observing how one clause is co-constructed in interaction
(Helasvuo 2004: 1315). One may also emphasise that grammatical structure
is not an artefact of linguistic inquiry that has isolated language form from
its actualisation as talk-in-interaction (Lerner 1996: 238). For example,
Grenobl’ (2008) discusses jointly produced turns and divides them into two
different categories: extensions and completions. In general, extensions are
used to expand the first speaker’s turn, while completions serve to complete
the turn, whether it is completed syntactically or semantically (ibid. 25).
Although the emphasis may be placed on slightly different aspects, the
production of these joint structures is usually understood as an interactional
achievement. Thus, a speaker completing the utterance of another speaker
reveals aspects of an interactionally relevant syntax. Participants can
therefore be said to analyse syntactic structures and to orient to them.
(Lerner 1991: 441, 445.)
5.1 Previous research on collaborative productions
The conversational structure of collaborative productions can be defined in
terms of the organisation of turn-taking. The unit of construction is a
compound turn-constructional unit (compound TCU; Lerner 1996: 240).
This concept is adopted from the general structure of conversation. The
basic assumption is that each speaker is entitled to one turn constructional
unit (TCU) at a time. With reference to the English language, unit-types can
be sentential, clausal, phrasal, and lexical constructions (Sacks et al. 1974:
704). In addition, the phonetic form and intonational packaging play an
important role in forming TCUs (Schegloff 2007: 3–4). In addition,
compound TCUs (TCU-in-progress) are co-constructed by the participants
in the conversation. These units consist of a preliminary component that is
uttered by one speaker, and a final component by another speaker.
69
5 Collaborative productions
Moreover, the preliminary component typically projects a possible form of
the final component of the TCU (Lerner, 1996: 240). Typical instances of
compound TCUs consist of sentences with conjunctions (when-then, if-then;
cf. in Russian esli-to) (Lerner 1991: 442, see also Grenobl’ 2008: 30).
The main categorisation can be established with the help of projection. If
a compound TCU format is projectable, it therein provides resources for a
completion by another speaker (Lerner 1991: 450). A compound TCU
consists of two components. In the course of its formation, the first
component is a preliminary component and ‘it foreshows both a place where
a final component could begin and a form that such a final component can
take’ (Lerner & Takagi 1999: 53, emphasis original.) What follows, then, is
that the preliminary component provides an opportunity for the coparticipant to step in and to contribute in the compound TCU formation
(ibid.).
Hopper and Thompson (2008) have studied projectability and clause
combining in interaction. The term used by Hopper and Thompson is ‘joint
utterance production’ (2008: 114). These productions contain two clauses.
The first clause typically projects the form of the second clause, which may
not exhibit any consistent syntactic structure. It is an interdeterminate stretch
of discourse. (Ibid: 99.) What makes the candidate completion possible is
grammatical, prosodic, and social projectability (ibid. 115). According to
Hopper and Thompson, projectability is affected by both social factors and
linguistic structures.
The structure of collaborative productions can be described as consisting
of three separate stages. Firstly, the current speaker produces a preliminary
component which does not necessarily display a particular problem.
Secondly, the recipient produces a final component which might slightly
overlap with the preliminary component. Thirdly, the speaker who produced
the preliminary component has an opportunity to react to the final
component. Usually, the progressivity of the conversation is not interrupted
when a collaborative production is produced unless the speaker of the
preliminary component specifically reacts to the final component.
The final component can be analysed as being pre-emptive. When two
participants are engaged in a joint activity, the recipient can respond to the
prior speaker, ‘not by waiting until completion to act, but by pre-empting
that completion as a method of responding’ (Lerner 2004a: 22, see also
Schegloff 1984: 42). Thus, the first and second speaker can jointly produce a
collaborative turn sequence (Lerner 2004a: 225). Both the speaker of the
70
5 Collaborative productions
original turn-in-progress and the speaker of the pre-emptive completion
orient to the turn after the pre-emptive completion as a turn allocated to the
original speaker.
Lingua franca researchers have focussed on candidate completions – or to
be more precise – on the lack of them. Firth (1996: 246) states that there
were few candidate completions in his data, even though in some cases, a
completion would have been feasible or viable. One possible reason for the
lack of completions could be that Firth’s data consisted of telephone calls
(ibid. 241); although grammatical and prosodic projectability are also still in
effect in telephone calls, some of the social projectability might be lost when
the participants cannot see each other.
When collaborative productions are analysed syntactically, the choice of
terminology can be challenging. Towards this end, one could use terms such
as ‘syntactic structures’ although this could be interpreted as reflecting a
tendency towards analysing how written language structures are described
(Selting 1996: 361). For example, Auer (1996: 59) adopts the term ‘syntactic
gestalt’ and validates his arguments by referring to the idea of grammatical
rules that produce syntactic structures. Auer (ibid.) observes that, ‘we are
less interested here in syntactic structures as the potential output of some
abstract grammatical system, than as communicatively and cognitively real
events in time’. A closed syntactic gestalt can form a possible syntactic
completion point, such as a potential transition-relevance place. For the
production and recognition of possible completion points, contextualisation
cues play an important role. These cues are syntactic, prosodic, semanticopragmatic and visual parameters. While their meaning is not stable, they
must be interpreted in a local environment and they tend to co-occur. (Ibid.
58; for emergent grammar, see also Hopper 2011: 27; Auer & Pfänder 2011:
3.)
Where the linguistic structure of collaborative productions is concerned, I
will use the term syntactic structure even though I am aware of its
shortcomings. However, as the analysis of single examples requires a
thorough examination of the turn-organisational and linguistic factors, this
also means that the terminology needs to be clarified for the analysis. In
other words, as is evident in examples, although the basic concept is
syntactic structure, the actual categorisation is more subtle (see also
Helasvuo 2001b, 2004). With regard to emergence, it is noteworthy that
syntactic units can be achieved through the participants’ mutual activity
(Helasvuo 2001b: 33–35).
71
5 Collaborative productions
Table 5 shows the number of examples in relation to the different
categories. Apart from the coordinated words and phrases, the final
components can be divided into two groups. Thompson & Couper-Kuhlen
(2005: 492) argue: ‘what second speakers tend to add to a first speaker’s
contribution is either (1) the second clausal component of a multi-clausal
unit or (2) the last word or two of a mono-clausal unit’.
Table 5. Collaborative productions
Collaborative productions
Finnish (32)
I Coordinated words and phrases
Russian (24)
2
1
29
19
a) Agreement
6
5
b) Subject NP + predicate verb
5
8
c) Objects, other complements
14
6
d) mennä ‘to go’
4
-
III Complex sentences
1
4
II Phrases and clauses
5.2 Participants co-construct a phrase or a clause
5.2.1 Co-ordinated words and phrases
In this chapter, I will first introduce co-ordinated structures in which two or
more syntactically equal words, clauses or sentences that are combined. This
co-ordinated item has the same syntactic function as its parts. (VISK §
1079.) In other words, they comprise a special case of co-constructions.
Subsequently, I will move on to the actual co-constructioning of phrases and
clauses. An analysis will be presented on agreement phenomena, the subject
+ predicate cases and the collaborative production. With special reference to
the Finnish data, there are also cases in which the collaborative production is
enabled by semantic motivation.
In addition to syntactic or semantic cohesion, another concept that plays a
crucial role in analysing emergent constructions is togetherness (for
example, see Barth-Weingarten & Couper-Kuhlen 2011 for conjoined verb
phrases: VP1 and VP2). According to Barth-Weingarten and Couper-Kuhlen
72
5 Collaborative productions
(ibid. 269), ‘in one case a speaker projects prosodically at the end of the first
part that more is to come and this ‘more’ turns out retrospectively to be
another VP linked to the first by and’. The first speaker who produced the
first VP as well as the second speaker who produced the second VP form a
compound turn-constructional unit. When this occurs, there is a prosodic
boundary marker that denotes incompleteness (ibid. 271).
In the first example, M and J are talking about how to film video material
for different purposes. M usually works as a video photographer and she is
known for filming too much material for even short television programmes.
At the beginning of the excerpt, both participants are trying to establish the
common principles for filming. M begins her turn in line 1 and J steps in
after the conjunction ja, ‘and’, pronouncing the final component. The
conjunction is placed at the end of the preliminary component:
(9) MV 37. <01:37:50>
01
M:
02
J:
03
M:
04
Normaali-a viis minuutti-a ↑ohjelma-a (.) ja,
Normal-PTV five minute-PTV ohjelma-PTV
and
Normal five minutes of programme and,
Tunti kuvaus-ta.
Hour filming-PTV
An hour of filming.
Kolme tunti-a ku↑vamateriaali-a,
Three hour-PTV picture:material-PTV
Three hours of video material,
Viis minuutti-a ohjelma-a.
Five minute-PTV programme-PTV
Five minutes of programme.
Syntactically, co-ordinated noun phrases function as the subjects of a
copulative clause. In this particular case, the copula is zero marked. The
noun phrases are syntactically and semantically identical and the head of the
noun phrase is a numeral. It is interesting that in lines 3–4, speaker M
produces another variant of the possible combinations of filming and
programme. M’s turn is syntactically and structurally identical to the first
collaborative production, but the order of the elements is reversed. M also
extends the amount of the film material needed to three hours. The structure
of the collaborative production is recognisable, and although M is accepting
it as a model for her second turn, she manages to formulate it to fit her own
purposes.
In the second example, the participants are discussing an upcoming
football match. They are all football enthusiasts who follow different types
of football leagues. In this excerpt, the subject of the conversation is the
73
5 Collaborative productions
Premier League. In line 9, R mentions the name of the first team to
participate in the match along with a coordinating conjunction. In line 10, S
completes the turn by producing the name of the second team. The form of
the second team’s name, Manu, is colloquial (short for Manchester United).
(10) FC 108. <09:15>
01
S:
02
B:
03
S:
04
S:
05
R:
06
B:
07
S:
08
R: →
09
S: →
10
B:
Aika >on
on
on<
(-) kello: ä: (1)
Time be.3SG be.3SG be.3SG (-) clock VOC (1)
The time is o’clock
Sei-SevVartti:-a
vaille (1) kummenen.
Quarter-PTV PRT
(1) ten
Quarter to ten.
(2)
Vartti-a
vaille (.) ku-Quarter-PTV PRT
(.) teQuarter to te↑Kymmene-ltä.
Ten-ABL
At ten o’clock.
<Yhdeksän yhdeksän> kolme neljäkyt viis,
Nine
nine
three forty
five,
Ei lauantai ei,
No Saturday no,
Arsenal ja,
Arsenal and,
Manu.
ManU.
Manchester Arsenal.
Manchester Arsenal.
In line 10, speaker B, who was not a part of the first co-construction,
produces yet another possible structure that has parts that are ordered in
reverse. From the perspective football match protocol, only one of the
orderings is accurate because one of teams is the home team and the other is
the visiting team, and it is customary to declare the teams in their home–
visitor order. However, from a practical standpoint, the order does not
actually play an important role. The second example is similar to the first
example. In both cases, the conjunction is placed at the end of the
preliminary component. In addition, the words or clauses are coordinated
symmetrically, as their order can be reversed (VISK § 1090).
When participants are engaged in a collaborative production of the
elements in conversation, they are constantly interpreting the actions of the
other participants. If the preliminary part of the compound TCU ends in a
conjunction, the TCU can project continuation in the final part. However,
74
5 Collaborative productions
this does not always occur. For example, Koivisto (2011: 58) reported that
although a turn ends in a conjunction, participants do not interpret the turn
as being incomplete. Walker (2012: 149) states that: ‘participants do not
systematically attempt to produce the talk which might otherwise be
projected by the conjunction (---): rather, the talk ending with the ‘trail-off’
conjunction is treated by participants as informationally complete’.
Co-ordinating conjunctions that require a certain type of continuation
usually occur in story-telling sequences. In addition, they are placed at the
end of a prosodic unit, and intended to denote that the story has not yet been
completed. (Koivisto 2011: 89.) Syntactically, this type of use of
conjunctions such as ja, ‘and’, cannot be interpreted as being coordinating
because the order of the elements is temporarily fixed, not exchangeable. In
the first example, the first two lines are somewhat disorganised. Filming and
making a television programme are temporarily organised but in this
particular example, J and M express that the order of the elements is
exchangeable.
In some cases, the participants may construct lists that consist of two or
more parts; usually they are three-parted (Jefferson 1990, Lerner 1994).
Participants orient to this three-parted structure as a factor that controls the
sequential organisation. If only one of the participants constructs the list, the
recipient interprets that the first possible place of transition relevance occurs
at the end of the third part (Jefferson 1990: 73–77). According to Jefferson
(ibid. 81–82), a list can be constructed by more than one speaker, and a link
term (such as ‘and’ or ‘or’) can be used to achieve collaborative
construction. The three-partedness can be being attributed to the
requirements that conversational interaction imposes. As Lerner (1994: 22)
states ‘List construction, as a situated social achievement in conversation, is
shaped by the social coordination systems that organize conversational
interaction’. A construction list is being kept as short as possible even
though the participants continue to perform some type of interactional
activity that requires listing. (Ibid.)
In the first two examples, the constructions had certain features that
connect them to list constructions despite their not being three-parted. In
both cases, the link term ‘and’ was used to achieve co-operation between
participants. Both cases also required social knowledge of the situation.
Football matches by nature involve two competing teams. Therefore,
although the list structure does not have three parts, the participants were
performing a certain type of interactional work that required listing. In both
75
5 Collaborative productions
cases, an anticipatory completion initiated a collaborative turn sequence in
that the first speaker either accepted or rejected the turn-constructional unit
completion by another speaker (cf. Lerner 1994: 26). However, the interplay
between acceptance and rejection can be rather delicate. In the first example,
M accepted the structure of the construction, but she managed to formulate
to it for her own purposes and to extend the amount of film material that was
needed for a television programme.
When the preliminary component ends with a conjunction, it strongly
projects that the second component will bring to completion the turnconstructional unit (for example, see Lerner 1994: 26). However, that does
not necessarily mean that each action could be explained in terms of
intentionality, or that an explanation is even mandatory. It is more important
to locate and identify the specific social constructions and sequential
circumstances that somehow provide the opportunities for collaborative
productions. (See also Lerner 1994: 31.) Naming football teams is one of
these social constructions, as it is identifiable and therefore provides the
occasion for specifiable action.
In comparison to the previous examples, the following example is
somewhat equivocal. The participants in this excerpt are discussing the
pharmaceutical industry in Tajikistan, or to be more precise, the lack of it.
Speaker N states that she has seen pharmaceuticals that were made in
Tajikistan but labelled in Russian. In line 6, speaker E lists other countries
(Russia, China) that manufacture the pharmaceuticals prescribed in
Tajikistan. Speaker E produces the prepositional phrase iz Rossii, ‘from
Russia’, and conjoins it to another prepositional phrase by using the
conjunction ili, ‘or’. However, the second prepositional phrase does not
contain the actual preposition, as the noun is only declined in the genitive.
The collaborative construction is subsequently completed by speaker N by
using the conjunction i, ‘and’, to conjoin the prepositional phrases. The
preposition iz is also absent from this third phrase, but the noun is declined.
Thus, there are three co-ordinated prepositional phrases, even though a
preposition is present only in the first phrase. The conjunctions used in the
example are also interesting. The first conjunction is the disjunctive ili, ‘or’,
and the second is the additive I, ‘and’.
76
5 Collaborative productions
(11) TI 14. <13:30>
01
E:
02
N:
03
E:
04
N:
05
E:
06
N:
07
→
Sčas u
nas
v: Tadžikistan-e
èto-t
Now PRE 1PL.GEN PRE Tajikistan-PREP 3SG-MASC
farmacevtiče-sk-ij
nik-ogo
netu ni če
pharmaceutical-ADJ-MASC nobody-GEN NEG NEG PRT
tadžik-sk-ij
[n:e ↓dela-jut.
Tajik-ADJ-MASC NEG
do-3PL
Nowadays in Tajikistan nobody produces Tajik
pharmaceuticals.
Net daže ja vide-l-a
taki-h
le↑karstv-ø
NEG even 1SG see-PST-FEM such-PL.GEN pharmaceutical-PL.GEN
čto čto tam (.) èt-o
proiz↑vodstvo Tadžikistan-a.
that there
3SG-NEU production
Tajikistan-GEN
No. I even saw such pharmaceuticals that it is production of
Tajikistan.
[Nu: sam
d-- da,
Well myself d-- yes
Well I myself yes,
[Tadžik-sk-oe le↑karstvo
no vse-taki
na rus-Tajik-ADJ-NEU pharmaceutical but neverthless PRE Rus-[na rus-sk-om
jazyk-e.
PRE Russian-ADJ-PREP language-PREP
Tajik pharmaceuticals but neverthless in Russian.
[Da sam (-)
iz Rossi-i
ili Kita-ja [m--,
Yes myself (-) PRE Russia-GEN or China-GEN m-Yes I myself (-) from Russia or from China m-,
[I Uzbekistan-a
mne
tože vide-l-a.
.h
And Uzbekistan-GEN
1SG.DAT also see-PST-FEM
And from Uzbekistan I have also seen.
No ja udivi-l-a-s’
to
čto tadžik-sk-ie
But 1SG surpise-PST-FEM-REFL that that Tajik-ADJ-PL
le↑karstv-a
.h na
upakovk-e
rus-sk-ij
pharmaceutical-PL
PREP package-PREP Russian-ADJ-MASC
jazyk
sto-it (.) počemu rus-sk-ij
počemu ne:t
language stand-3SG why
Russian-ADJ-MASC why
NEG
tadžik-sk-ij.
Tajik-ADJ-MASC
But I was surprised that it was Tajik pharmaceuticals but in
the package is Russian language why Russian why not Tajik.
Although the conjunctions produced in this example are somewhat
controversial, their use can be analysed in terms of the overall structure of
the conjoined prepositional phrases. The discussion centres on the lack of a
pharmaceutical industry in Tajikistan and they begin to name countries that
could possibly provide Tajikistan drugs. First, speaker E names two obvious
sources, Russia and China. After that, speaker N adds the neighbouring
country of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, even though it is not usually considered to
be a country that provides pharmaceutical products.
77
5 Collaborative productions
5.2.2 Agreement within phrases
Let us now turn to the agreement phenomena within noun phrases from the
viewpoint of the collaborative production. In the NP, the agreement codes
the head – modifier relations. Agreement also codes the relationship
between the subject and the verb in the clause. These cases will be analysed
in the next subsection.
A noun phrase (NP) can consist of a head; a noun: a pronoun; or a
cardinal (VISK § 442, AG-80 § 1881). Neither the VISK nor the AG-80 uses
the concepts pronoun or cardinal (numeral) phrase. This is due to the fact
that pronouns and cardinals regarded as nouns when functioning as the head
of a phrase. Ordinal numbers are considered to be adjectives (VISK § 771,
AG-80 § 1366). Thus, even though both the cardinals and ordinals have the
same origin in that they are words connected to counting, they differ
grammatically. 25
In the following example, R is describing his home town in Morocco. R
states that the town is very beautiful and the climate is pleasant. In line 7, R
produces a head, in this case, the numeral kaksikymmentä kahdeksan,
‘twenty eight’, and L adds the modifier astetta ‘degrees’. R accepts the
completion by repeating L’s word.
(12) FC 63. <20:40>
01
R:
02
L:
03
R:
04
L:
05
R:
Minu:-sta on
kaunis
kaupunki.
1SG-ELA
be.3SG beautiful town
I think it is a beautiful town.
Joo.
PRT
Yeah.
Ö: (1) ö: m: on
koska
on
lähellä ↑ranta-a.
VOC (1) VOC m: be.3SG because be.3SG close
beach-PTV
Because it is close to the beach.
Mere-n [ranta-a.
Sea-GEN beach-PTV
To the seashore.
[>Mere-n< mere-n ranta-a.
Sea-GEN sea-GEN beach-PTV
To the seashore.
25
According to the Academy Grammar of the Russian language, the ordinals and the cardinal odin, ‘one’,
decline as adjectives, whereas the cardinals million, ‘million’, milliard, and ‘billion’ decline as nouns (AG80: 1366). However, the cardinals are traditionally characterised as a particular part of speech that is
determined by their morphological categories and by the commonality of their syntactic functions. In the
nominative and accusative cases, the cardinals govern that inanimate nouns are in the genetive: dva stol-a,
‘two tables-GEN’. In other cases (which are referred to as the oblique cases). the cardinals agree with
nouns: dvu-h stol-ov, ‘two-GEN table-GEN (ibid.).
78
5 Collaborative productions
06
L:
07
R: →
08
L: →
09
R:
Joo.
PRT
Yeah.
Hyvä: ilma
kaksikymmentä: kuusi: (.) kaksikymmentä (.)
Good weather twenty
six
(.) twenty (.)
kahdeksan,
eight
Good weather twenty-six twenty-eight,
Astet[-ta.
Degrees-PTV
Degrees.
[Astet-ta
kesä-llä
ja talvi o:n
kahdeksantoista.
Degree-PTV summer-ADE and winter be.3SG eighteen
Degrees in the summer and in the winter eighteen.
In the second example, N and E are discussing the linguistic situation of
Tajikistan, or more specifically, the situation of the universities in Tajikistan.
N attempts to determine whether it is possible to study all subjects both in
Russian and in Tajik.
(13) TI 26. <21:40>
01
N:
02
E:
03
N:
04
E:
05
N: →
06
E: →
07
N:
08
E:
Èt-o
(.) è
vy: [s-- smože-te skaza-t’,
This-NEU (-) VOC 2PL c-- can-2PL say-INF
That erm can you say,
[V
↓èto-m
god-u,
PRE this-PREP year-PREP
In this year,
»kaki-e predmet-y ili >vs-e
vs-e< predmet-y tak
what-PL subject-PL or all-PL all-PL subject-PL so
naprimer
v
nacional’n-om univ(h)e- vy by-l-i
for.example PRE national-PREP unive2PL be-PST-PL
↑da v
gosudarstvenn-om [(.) nacional’n-om.
yes PRE state-PREP
(.) national-PREP
What subjects or all subjects, for example, in the national
university, you were in the state national.
[Da da.
Yes, yes.
.h Tam
vs-e
vs-e
èt-i
[(.) predmet-y
.h There all-PL all-PL this-PL (.) subject-PL
There all these subjects
[Predmet-y,
Subject-PL
Subjects,
»možno (.) izuč-- uča-t’-sja
i:
po-tadžik-sk-i
i
can
(.) st-study-INF-PRT both PRE-Tajik-ADJ-ADV and
po-rus-sk-i
[ili >tol’ko< nekotory-e.
PRE-Russian-ADJ-ADV or only
some-PL
can studied both in Tajiks and in Russian or only some.
[Da:.
Yes.
79
5 Collaborative productions
09
10
N:
11
E:
12
N:
Net net,
NEG NEG
No, no,
[Vs-e?
All-PL
All?
[Predmet-y da.
Subject-PL yes
Subjects, yes.
Aga.
Aha.
At the beginning of this example, speaker N begins to formulate her
question on language possibilities, but she first has to check whether her
interlocutor has studied at the national state university. After I’s
confirmation, N poses her question again in line 5 and because she has
previously mentioned the subject predmety, ‘(school) subjects’, speaker E
has an opportunity to complete the compound TCU. N subsequently
emphasises her question by repeating the pronoun vse, ‘all’.
In the above-mentioned examples, the expectations for the upcoming
completion were established prior to it. In the first example, the topic,
weather, was mentioned at the beginning of the turn. In the second example,
speaker N began to ask a question, but interrupted in order to clarify
something first. As she had already pronounced the word predmety,
‘subjects’, in line 3, the speaker was able to use it as a final component.
There are certain dissimilarities that separate adjectival phrases from
noun phrases. Specific types of words tend to induce collaborative
productions. For example, the intensifiers paljon, ‘lot’, and tosi, ‘very’, are
often used in Finnish collaborative productions (VISK § 615, see, also
Hopper 2011: 23). The participants in the next excerpt are discussing the
Dead Sea. In line 2, J begins to describe the Dead Sea by commenting that it
is very salty, paljon suolaa, ‘a lot of salt’. While the structure that J uses in
line 2 is not very Finnish, and speaker A begins to complete J’s utterance:
(14) IC 9. <01:01:50>
01
S:
02
J: →
Ole-tte-ko ↑kuul-leet (.) mikä on
Kuollut>meri<
Be-2PL-Q
hear-PRT (.) what be.3SG Dead:Sea
minkä↑lainen meri se on.
what:kind:of sea 3SG be.3SG
Have you heard what kind of sea is Dead Sea.
Se on
paljon [suol-- suola,
3sg be.3SG lot
sal-- salt
It is a lot of salt.
80
5 Collaborative productions
03
A: →
04
L:
[Suo-- suola-a,
Sal-- salt-PTV
Salt.
ºSuola-a.º
Salt-PTV
Salt.
The use of these intensifiers can also make them recognisable, and they
can be used in conversation once their recognisability has been established.
In the next fragment, V is telling about his hometown in Siberia. Because
the town is located in the interior of Russia, the climate is continental. In
line 3, V begins to define the summer temperature and in line 4, B and L
complete the clause with the adjective kuuma, ‘hot’. After the first
completion, V continues to describe the winter temperature. In line 7, B
produces the final component by pronouncing the intensifier tosi, ‘very’, in
his own speech.
(15) FC 67., 68. <16:57 >
01
V:
02
L:
03
V: →
04
B: →
05
L:
06
V: →
07
B: →
Siellä on
(2) ilmasto: (1) ilmasto mannerilmasto.
There be.3SG (2) climate (1) climate continental:climate
There is climate climate continental climate.
Mannerilmasto.
Continental:climate.
Kesä
tosi [(.) ↑kuuma.
Summer very
hot.
[Kuuma.
Hot.
[Kuuma.
Hot.
Talvi: [(.) tosi kylmä.
Winter
very cold.
[Tosi kylmä.
Very cold.
The Russian material contains few instances of comparative
constructions. Traditionally, they are seen as a part of adverbial phrases, and
the type of connection they represent is referred to as primykanie, which
literally means ‘joining without declining’ (AG-80 § 1881, 1830). In the
following example, N and E are discussing the payment policy of Tajikistan.
The participants claim that the salaries are low and that the government does
not try to solve this problem with sufficient determination. However, in the
year that the conversation took place, the increment in salary had been five
percent. In line 4, E continues and begins to explain that doctors have a
different type of salary policy: U vračej desjat’ procent, ‘doctors have ten
81
5 Collaborative productions
percent’. She subsequently pauses for a short time and speaker N then adds
the comparative form vyše, ‘higher’. Originally, speaker E had had another
word in mind, bol’še, ‘more’, but she agrees with the offered completion
and repeats it.26
(16) TI 33. <1:42>
01
N:
02
03
E:
04
→
05
N: →
06
A
↑vaš-ø
prezident naprimer
(.) on ne: k
But 2PL.POSS-MASC president for.example (.) 3SG NEG PRE
naprimer
ne skaza-l-ø
vot èt-u
problem-u:,
for.example NEG say-PST-MASC VOC this-ACC problem-ACC
But your president, for example, did not talk about this
problem.
On ne [ne govor-it on ob èt-om.
3SG NEG NEG talk-3SG 3SG PRE this-PREP
He does not talk about this.
[Na sčet èto-go govor-it na èto-t
god
PRE count 3SG-GEN talk-3SG PRE this-MASC year
uže
(.) .h pjat’ procent-ov
uže
zarplat-u
already (.) .h five
percent-PL.GEN already pay-ACC
u
nas
b- pjat’ procent-y il-- da pjat’ procent. .h
PRE 1PL.GEN b- five percent-PL or
yes five percent .h
About these talks in this year, already five percent of pay
we have five percent.
U
vrač-ej
desjat’ procent [(.) bol’-še vy-še
PRE doctor-PL.GEN ten
percent (.) big-COMP high-COMP
da.
yes
Doctors have ten percent higher, yes.
[Vy-še.
High-COMP
Higher.
Aga horoš-o.
Aga good-ADV
Aha, okay.
In line 4, after speaker E has produced the preliminary component of the
co-construction, she pauses for a short time. This could be interpreted as a
sign indicating that she is encountering some problems forming her
utterances. Traditionally, collaborative productions are claimed to also
include word-searches (Lerner 2004a: 261). Structurally, word searches
26
With regard to language use, in this particular example, the grammatical form of the noun after a cardinal
number varies. In Russian, the cardinal odin-odna-odno-odni, ‘one.MASC-FEM-NEU-PL’, requires that
the noun is in the nominative case either in the singular or in the plural. Cardinals from two to four take the
genitive case in the singular, and cardinals from five to twenty take the genitive case in the plural. (AG-80
§ 1371.) In line 3, the speaker first uses the correct form of the noun after the cardinal number pjat’, ‘five’:
pjat’ procent-ov, ‘five percent-PL.GEN’. Later in that same line, she uses the nominative case in the plural
after the cardinal of pjat’ procent-y, ‘five percent-PL.NOM’. The cases used after the cardinals constitute
one of the areas that can undergo changes in the Russian lingua franca interaction.
82
5 Collaborative productions
enable the recipients to participate, but usually only the searched word is
produced. The placement of the contribution can vary, and it can affect how
the contribution is produced. (Ibid. 262.) If the offered word is delayed, the
current speaker is provided with an opportunity to find the correct word by
him- or herself and the offered word is produced as a guess. If the recipient
wants to solve the search immediately at the beginning of the search
sequence, he or she does not usually frame the contribution as a guess.
(Ibid.) In this particular case, the final component by speaker N is produced
without any specific guess markers.
5.2.3 Subject NP and the predicate verb
An interesting example of participants co-constructing is the subject NP and
the finite verb. In both Finnish and Russian, the NP in the nominative case
triggers agreement in the finite verb. The data presented by Helasvuo (2004:
1332) contained no excerpts in which the preliminary part contains a subject
NP and the final part a verb and object, or a copula and the predicate
nominal. Linear organisation– word order–is particularly relevant with
regard to co-constructions. Although word order is often characterised as
being relatively free in both Finnish and Russian. However, a clear
preference for subject – verb ordering occurs in Finnish spoken discourse
data. When the subject is first-or second- person, the percentage is greater
than 95%. (Helasvuo 2001.) Helasvuo (2003) has also demonstrated “that it
is more common to have an intonation unit boundary between the verb and
the object than between the subject and the verb.” This indicates that subject
and verb are more likely to be grouped together than the verb and the object,
which is often assumed to be the way constituents are grouped. (See also
Helasvuo 2004: 1332.)
In Russian grammar, the structures of these types of co-constructions can
be analysed in terms of structure schemas (AG-80 § 1908–1914). The
structural core of a clause consists of few words. The co-construction of the
subject NP + V equals those instances when there are two components that
form a structure schema (AG-80 § 1911). For example, a schema of N 1 - Vf
means that there is a noun in the nominative case (N1) and a finite verb (Vf),
as in the phrase mal’chik spit, ‘a boy sleeps’. When agreement phenomenon
is taken into account, the subject NP defines the gender, number and person
of the verb.
The following two examples are identical in that their completion
consists of a finite verb in the imperfect and the subject pronoun in the first83
5 Collaborative productions
person singular. In the first fragment, M and S exchange weekend
experiences and in the second, J and G talk about travelling in Russia.
(17) FC 105. <12:00>
01
M: →
02
S: →
03
M:
04
B:
05
M:
06
B:
Minä,
1SG
I,
Nuku-i-n.
Sleep-PST-1SG
Slept.
Ei mitään. hehe
Nothing.
Te on
mitä nukku-u:
kaksikymmentä tun↓ti-a.
2PL be.3SG what sleep-3SG twenty
hour-PTV
You is what sleep for twenty hours.
Ky-- kaks--,
Te-- twen--,
Kakskyt e: neljä.
Twenty-four.
M initiates his preliminary component by pronouncing the first-person
pronoun mina, ʻI’. Speaker S completes it with the final component, nuku-in, ‘sleep-PST-1SG. Even though a change in speakership occurs, the
projection remains the same.
Similar examples also occur in the Russian data. The participants of the
next excerpt, J and G, co-construct a subject NP + finite verb construction.
When using the above- mentioned concept of structural schemas, this
particular example represents the N1 - Vf schema.
(18) IS 57. <25:45>
01 J:
02 G:
03
→
04 J: →
05 G:
>Da da da< ty kuda ezdi-l-ø
v
Rossi-i.
Yes yes yes 2SG where travel-PST-MASC PRE Russia-PREP
Yes, yes, yes, where did you travel in Russia.
Nu
ja: často byva-ju v
Mosk↑v-e
no krome
ja eščë
Well 1SG often be-1SG PRE Moscow-PREP but except 1SG yet
(.) ja zaby-l-ø
nazvanie mest-a.
(.) 1SG forget-PST-MASC name place-GEN
Well, I often go to Moscow, but except to Moscow I forgot
the name of the place.
Nu
v: Ivanovsk-oj
oblast-i ja,
Well PRE Ivanovo-PREP.FEM area-PREP 1SG
Well, in the Ivanovo area I,
Putešestvova-l-ø.
Travel-PST-MASC
have travelled.
Nemnožko da.
A little, yes.
84
5 Collaborative productions
06 J:
07 G:
08 J:
09 G:
V
Peterburg-e?
PRE St.Petersburg-PREP
In St Petersburg?
Net e↑ščë (.) net no hoč-u.
NEG yet
NEG but want-1SG
No, not yet, but I want to.
I
teper’ v
Finljandi-ju.
And now
PRE Finland-ACC
And now to Finland.
↑Da konečno
v
Finljandi-ju tože.
Yes of course PRE Finland-ACC also
Yes, of course, to Finland, too.
At the beginning of the excerpt, J asks G about the places he has been to.
G responds that he often visits Moscow, but does not remember the names
of the other places. In line 3, G begins his preliminary component by
defining that the Ivanovo area is the place where he has travelled. J
pronounces the final component and adds the verb putešestvova-l-ø, ‘travelPST-SG’ (cf. Andreeva 2007: 39). J has prefaced his completion already at
the beginning of the example so that he can do it easily.
The two examples above are not overly complex. The first one includes
an intransitive verb and in the second, G has already produced the locative
adjunct before proceeding to the subject of the clause. Therefore, the
completion of the clause is projected at the beginning of G’s turn. In the
Finnish example, the colloquial personal pronoun mä, ‘I’, was followed by a
finite verb in the imperfect in the first-person singular. Due to differences in
the morphosyntactic categories in Finnish and Russian, the connection in the
Russian example is not obvious. In the imperfect, the Russian morphology
does not differentiate between persons, but between the singular and plural.
Therefore, the form of the finite verb is accurate and because the speaker of
the first component used ja, the ‘I’ pronoun. The predicative is in the
masculine form because the person that they are talking about is a man.
Example 19 features speakers N and E constructing a clause that consists
of a subject vse, ‘all’, and of a finite verb, izučali,‘studied’, which is in the
imperfect. This fragment has the finite verb in the plural. The collaborative
production is rather unsuccessful due to some overlapping, and the speaker
of the preliminary component does not indicate explicitly how she reacts to
the completion. 27
27
With regard to language use, one of the tendencies in lingua franca interaction is the use of semantically
close words. In this particular example, speaker I uses two constructions that are related to studying. In line
4, she begins her utterance by cutting-off the word my iz-, ‘we stu-ʼ, acknowledging that the word choice
was not perhaps accurate. She then produces the construction of učili vse v škole, ‘my studied all at school’.
85
5 Collaborative productions
(19) TI 31. <6:45>
01
N: →
02
E: →
03
04
E:
05
Čtoby ↑vs- [(.) daže v
kišlak-ah
(.) mog-l-i,
That all-PL (.) even PRE kišlak-PREP.PL (.) can-PST-PL
That everyone even in villages could,
[Izuča-l-i
rus-- da: da: est’.
Study-PST-PL Rus-- yes yes be.3SG.
Studied Rus- yes, yes, is.
(1)
È: a
togda kogda my iz-- è: (.) uči-l-i
vs-e
VOC and then when 1PL stu-- VOC (.) study-PST-PL all-PL
v
↑škol-e, .h
PRE school-PREP
And when we studied all at school,
tam
po-mo-emu
roditel-i ne: ne razreša-l-i čtoby
There PRE-1SG-DAT parent-PL NEG NEG allow-PST-PL that
e-go
dočka
i:li e-go
.h é
↑syn (.)
3SG.MASC-GEN daughter or
3SG.MASC-GEN .h VOC son (.)
izuča-t’ v
universitet-ah.
study-INF PRE university-PL.PREP
There, in my opinion, parents did not allow (that) his
daughter or his son (would) study at universities.
One of the interesting features of Finnish grammar is the use of a specific
(auxiliary) negative verb when person is expressed in the negative verb. For
example, e-n ‘I-NEG.1SG’, e-t ‘you-NEG.2SG’ etc. The difference between
the present and past tenses is marked in the main verb. (VISK § 108.) In the
following example, the participants co-construct subject-finite verb
construction in which the finite verb is negative. Participants are discussing
a study group that they have founded in order to facilitate their Finnish
studies. L suggests that perhaps they could also take Muhammad with them.
In line 1, M explains that they have told him about the group. Then, in line
4, L completes the S+V construction by pronouncing the verb in negation.
The negative verb ei, ‘NEG.3SG’ indicates the person and the form of the
main verb halua, ‘want+PRES’.
(20) FC 97. <03:26>
01
L:
Otta-kaa
↑Muhammed mukaan Muhammed.
Take-IMP.2PL Muhammed with
Muhammed
Take Muhammed with you Muhammed.
In line 5, she returns< to the original construction and produces izučat’ v universitetah, ‘to study at
universities’, although the verb izučat’ can be used in constructions such as izučat’ biologiju, ‘to study
biology’, that is ‘to study a subject’. The semantically appropriate construction would be učit’sja v
universitetah, ‘to study at universities’. This might be explained by the fact that the collaborative
production in lines 1–2 consists of the verb izučat’ and of the cut-off word rus-, ‘Russian’. Thus, the
structure has been introduced to the conversation before and this makes it accessible.
86
5 Collaborative productions
02
B:
03
M: →
04
L: →
Jos halua-n (-)
If want-1SG (-)
If I want
Minä sano-n häne:-lle e: hän,
1SG say-1SG 3SG-ALL
VOC 3SG
I say to him he,
Ei
halua.
NEG.3SG want.
does not want to.
This example differs slightly from the two previous examples. In those
examples, the subject was expressed by the first-person pronoun and even
though the change of speakership occurred, the predicate remained in the
first-person form.
These collaborative productions are not exceedingly complex. The
constructions simply consist of a noun phrase and a finite verb. Nonetheless,
those types of co-constructions make the anticipatory completion possible.
The first two examples demonstrated that the final component
grammatically continued the projection of the preliminary component. In
other words, although the opportunity of speakership occurred, the coparticipant produced a predicate verb that conjugated with the subject that
was expressed by a personal pronoun. In the last two examples, the
projection was in effect, but as the subject was expressed by a quantor
pronoun (vse, ‘all’) or a personal pronoun (hän, ‘he’), the final component
could not have possessed any other form than the one produced.
5.2.4 Objects, other complements required by predicate verbs, and
predicatives
Let us now turn to concentrate on the participants who construct a
predication. In the first example, the participants are discussing their
breakfast habits. T is telling about her husband, Raimo, and about their
children. In lines 1–7, she talks about Raimo eating porridge and drinking
some tea with honey. In line 8, T begins to recount that their children eat
only sweet yoghurt. In line 9, speaker A adds the object, mehua, ‘juice’, to
the construction that was initiated by speaker T.
(21) MV 50. <44:08>
01
T:
02
T:
>Raimo< syö
perusteellise-sti.
Raimo eat.3SG thorough-ADV
Raimo eats thoroughly.
.hh Kaurapuuro-a (.)
.hh Oatmeal:porrige-PTV
.hh Oatmeal porridge
87
5 Collaborative productions
03
A:
04
T:
05
T:
06
07
A:
T:
08
T: →
09
A: →
10
T:
Niin.
Yes.
S-- pää-llä ö: juusto-a
si-tä
m
↑fetajuusto-a.
S-- PRT
VOC cheese-PTV 3SG-PTV VOC feta:cheese-PTV
S- top of it cheese that feta cheese.
Joo sitten pää-llä tee-tä missä on
hu↓naja-a.
Yeah then
PRT
tea-PTV where be.3SG honey-PTV
Yeah, then tea with with honey.
(-)
J(h)oo elikkä todella vaikka-pa
hän on
↑suomalainen.
Yeah
well
really although-CLT 3SG be.3SG Finn
Yeah, well really although he is a Finn.
Ja >sitten meidä-n lapse-t< ne syö
vain makea
And then
1PL-GEN child-PL 3PL eat.3SG only sweet
jugurtti-a ja vain to-ta juo-vat, (.)
yoghurt-PTV and only well drink-3PL
And then our children, they eat only sweet yoghurt and just
well, drink,
Mehu-a.
Juice-PTV
Juice.
Mehu-a.
Juice-PTV
Juice.
In some cases, the final component can slightly overlap the preliminary
component. However, Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson (1974: 708) defined a
smooth transition (from one turn to a next), and this covers those transitions
with no gap and no overlap and the transitions characterised by a slight gap
or overlap. The second example contains two collaborative productions. Let
us now turn our attention to the first collaboration. In this example, the
participants are discussing the delicacies of Finnish cuisine:
(22) MV 43., 44. <01:00:10>
01 S:
02
→
03 A: →
>Ni
ni< valmista-a-k-s
se sii-- teke-e-k-s
Well well prepape-3SG-Q-CLI 3SG it-- make-3SG-Q-CLI
se sii-t jauhelihakastikkee-n.
3SG it-ELA mincemeat:sauce-GEN
Well, does he prepare it does he makes mincemeat sauce of
it?
Vai teke-e-k-s
se sii-t jotai
.hh [(.)
Or
make-3SG-Q-CLI 3SG it-ELA something
Or does he make something of it
[Muruke.
Meatloaf.
((17 LINES REMOVED))
88
5 Collaborative productions
21 S:
22 T:
23 S: →
24 T: →
25 S:
[Ja sit se,
And then 3SG
And then it,
[Joo.
Yeah.
»>laitta-a sii-hen< jotain [.hh
put-3SG
it-ILL something
puts there something
[päälle.
PRT
on top of it.
vai jotai
päälle.
Or, something on top of it.
The subject that is discussed in this excerpt is mincemeat, which o the
participants claim is a very typical food in Finland. At the beginning (lines
1–2), the current speaker, S, suggests that perhaps immigrants are
accustomed to preparing some sort of mincemeat sauce that is similar to
what Finns would prepare themselves. In line 3, speaker A proposes that
another possible dish could be meat loaf.
As we have already discussed in terms of the conversational structure,
jointly produced constructions are located in different positions. These
positions are short pauses (micro-pauses less than 0.2 seconds) and
inhalations. Jointly produced constructions are usually produced so that they
do not create a disturbance in the ongoing conversation. Furthermore, lexical
markers are possible, for example, in Finnish jotain, and in Russian chto-to,
‘something’. As we can see, the completion is placed near the end of the
unit. Syntactically, this addition is enabled by the disjunctive conjunction
vai, ‘or’, which is pronounced in the beginning of the turn.
In addition to the lexical NPs, the infinitive phrases can also work as
objects (VISK § 499). The following example consists of a verb haluta, ‘to
want’, which requires an infinitive phrase as an object. This example
features B who is sketching a plan for how the participants of the Finnish
course would spend their final day together. In lines 1–2, B and L jointly
produce the structure kuka haluaa luistella, ‘who wants to skate’. B accepts
the infinitive phrase by repeating it:
(23) FC 92. <07:02>
01
B: →
Per↑jantai-na (1) kaikki
teke-e
ruoka ja syö-mme
Friday-ESS
(1) everyone prepare-3SG food and eat-1PL
täällä ja menn-ää ↑ulos ja: kuka: halua-a,
here
and go-4
out and who
want-3SG
On Friday, everybody prepares food and we eat here and we go
out and who wants to,
89
5 Collaborative productions
02
L: →
03
B:
Luistel-la.
Skate-INF
to skate.
Luistel-la.
Skate-inf
to skate.
In some examples, government phenomenon can also trigger the
construction of grammatically appropriate words or the participants can
negotiate the correctness. This is understandable because the construction
has otherwise been executed, but it needs an object to be complete. In these
cases, the grammar can be considered to be real-time phenomenon (Hopper
1987: 141), which means that the syntactic structures unfold in real time
(Auer & Pfänder 2011: 3, Hopper 2011: 27). Clauses can also emerge as
syntactic units and these can likewise be achieved through the participants’
mutual activity (Helasvuo 2001b: 33–35).
In the example that follows, M is telling his interlocutors about football,
which is his hobby. In line 1, he produces the word ihmise-t, ‘people-PL’,
and produces the grammatically incorrect form pelaa, ‘play-3SG’. He then
pauses and produces the right form, pelaavat, ‘play-3PL’. A two-second
pause then occurs before R adds the word jalkapallo-a, ‘football-PRT’, in
line 3. After the offered final component, M selects the last word of the
compound noun and declines it in a different case, namely in the genitive:
pallo-n, ‘ball-GEN’. At this point, speaker B wants to express his opinion
regarding the correct declension and begins to elaborate on his own version.
He first produces the form pallo, ‘ball-NOM’, and then he forms the
postpositional phrase pallon kanssa, ‘with a ball’ (literally ‘ball-GEN with’).
Even though R offered the grammatically correct form in line 3, M accepts
the form pallon kanssa in line 6 by repeating it.
(24) FC 111. <08:25>
01
M:
02
03
R:
04
M:
05
B:
Nyt ihmiset
pela-a
(.) pelaa-vat
Now people-PL play-3SG (.) play-3PL
Now people play
(2)
Jalkapallo-a.
Football-PRT.
Football.
Pallo-n.
Ball-GEN.
Football.
Pallo: p(h)allo-n kanssa.
Ball
ball-GEN
with
A ball with a ball.
90
5 Collaborative productions
06
M:
<Pallo-n kanssa.>
Ball-GEN with
With a ball.
As in the previous example, the participants are also able to co- construct
different types of structures in which the predicate verb requires that the
complement be in a specific case. In the following example, M begins his
utterance with jos kysymme, ‘if we ask’, which is subsequently completed by
speaker L by saying Naukolta, ‘from Nauko’. Syntactically, the final
component fits the preliminary component. M accepts this complement by
repeating it.
(25) FC 65. <19:35>
01
M: →
02
L: →
03
M:
J:os jos kysy-mme,
If
if ask-1PL,
If if we ask,
Nauko-lta.
Nauko-ABL
From Nauko.
Nauko-lta.
Nauko-ABL
From Nauko.
There are also similar cases in the Russian data. In the following
example, speaker E is telling about her daughter. They live in Tajikistan, but
E wants her daughter to learn Russian. In line 2, speaker N overlaps with
speaker E and begins her utterance of čtoby ona sami govorila, ‘that she
herself would speak’, which is then completed by speaker E in line 3, porusski, ‘in Russian’. In this example, speaker E has already described the
whole situation in her first utterance. Speaker N then reformulates speaker
E’s utterance and speaker E adds the adverb po-russki. Speaker E accepts
the suitability by repeating that word. 28
(26) TI 30. <7:57>
01
E:
Tol’ko u
ne-e
četyre mesjac-a po-èt-omu kogda
Only
PRE 3SG.FEM-GEN four
month-GEN PRE-it-DAT when
u
ne-e
↑bud-et
god (.) ja postavi-l-a
PRE 3SG.FEM-GEN will.FUT-3SG year (.) 1SG make-PST-FEM
čto-by
↑on
[<on-a>
tože (.) rus-sk-ij
jazyk.
that-CLI 3SG.MASC
3SG-FEM also (.) Russian-ADJ-MASC
language
28
With regard to language use, the use of third-personal pronouns fluctuates in this particular example. In
Russian, the third-personal pronouns indicate the gender of the referent. In line 1, she first uses the
personal pronoun on, ‘he’, then she produces the correct pronoun, ona, ‘she’. Moreover, the gender
category in Russian is one of the categories that can undergo changes in Russian lingua franca interaction.
91
5 Collaborative productions
02
N: →
03
E: →
04
H:
Only she is four months old that is why when she turns one
year I decided that he she also (.) Russian language.
[Čto-by
è: čto-by
on-a
>sam-i<
That-CLI VOC that-CLI 3SG-FEM self-PL
govori-l-a
by [po-rus-sk-i.
talk-PST-FEM CLI PRE-Russian-ADJ-ADV
That that she herself would speak in Russian.
[Po-rus-sk-i.
PRE-Russian-ADJ-ADV
In Russian.
Aga horoš-o.
Aha good-ADV
Aha okay.
The following example is somewhat similar to the previous excerpt.
Speaker N is the same person as in the previous example, but the
interlocutor in this excerpt is different. The participants are discussing the
different areas of Tajikistan and the languages that are spoken in those areas.
N states that she has noticed that in some areas, the Tajik and Uzbek people
use either Tajik or Uzbek, but not Russian.
(27) TI 24. <22:21>
01
N:
02
A:
03
N:
04
→
05
06
A: →
.h I
mnogi-e tadžik-i >govor-jat po<-uzbek-sk-i
tam.
.h And many-PL Tajik-PL speak-PL3 PRE-Uzbek-ADJ-ADV there
And many of the Tajik people speak in Uzbek there.
[Da.
Yes.
[Tak čto ja ma:lo slyša-l-a
rus-sk-ij
tam.
So
1SG little hear-PRET-FEM Russian-ADJ-MASC there
So I heard very little Russian there.
Tam .h uz↑bek-i tad↑žik-i vmeste govor-jat ili
There Uzbek-PL Tajik-PL together speak-PL3 either
po-tadžik-sk-i
i[li po-uzbek-sk-i.
PRE-Tajik-ADJ-ADV or
PRE-Uzbek-ADJ-ADV
There the Uzbek people and the Tajik people converse either
in Tajik or in Uzbek.
[po-uzbek-sk-i
da.
PRE-Uzbek-ADJ-ADV yes.
Da: u
nas
rus-sk-ij
malo (.) v gorod-e
Yes PRE 1PL.GEN Russian-ADJ-MASC little (.) PRE town-PREP
Dušanbe po-↑mo-emu oni (1) tadžik-i vs-ë
rav↑n-o
Dušanbe PRE-1SG-DAT 3PL (1) Tajik-PL all-NEU same-NEU
oni razgovariva-jut po-rus-sk-i.
3PL talk-3PL
PRE-Russian-ADJ-ADV
Yes, we have very few Russians in the town of Dušanbe. I
think that the Tajik however talk in Russian.
Although Tajik is the official language of Tajikistan, the country has a
relatively significant Uzbek-speaking minority. Russian serves as an
92
5 Collaborative productions
interethnic language although, as we see in this example, other languages
can be used as well. N states that many of the Tajik people actually know
Uzbek (line 1) and when a Tajik and an Uzbek are speaking to each other,
they may use either Tajik or Uzbek (line 4). At the end of the line 4, N is
beginning to offer these two languages, but she does not reach the end of her
turn before the interviewee adds the second language (po-uzbekski, ‘in
Uzbek’; line 5). Syntactically, N’s turn is constructed by using coordinating
double conjunctions (ili-ili, ‘either-or’), which join two equal clauses. Thus,
by interpreting the structure of the turn, the interviewee can complete it.
On the clause level, participants can also co-construct different types of
characterising clauses, and these typically function as assessments
(Helasvuo 2004: 1323–1325). The preliminary component consists of a
noun phrase and copula, and the final component consists of either a noun
phrase or an adjective phrase. The next excerpt is a textbook example of
characterising clauses 29. The participants are discussing the final day of their
Finnish course and what they could do after they receive their diplomas at a
ceremony. In line 8, B begins his turn with koska tämä on, ‘because this is’,
and R completes it with the adjective phrase viimeinen päivä, ‘the last day’.
B repeats the phrase and accepts it as suitable.
(28) FC 94. <06:22>
01
B:
02
L:
03
B:
04
R:
05
B:
06
L:
Sitten maanantai-na (.) >ja: ja ja< jälkeen,
Then
Monday-ESS
(.) and and and after
Then on Monday and after,
Todistus-t-en jao-n
jälkeen.
Diploma-PL-GEN presentation-GEN after
After giving out the diplomas.
Todistus-t-en >mene-mme< kaikki jos halu-a
men-nä
Diploma-PL-GEN go-1PL
all
if want-3SG go-INF
ravintola-an
jos halua-mme mennä-mme
restaurant-ILL if want-1PL go-1PL
After getting our diplomas, we go all if want to go to a
restaurant if we want to go
Kahvi-lle.
Coffee-ALL
For a coffee.
↑Elokuvateatteri-in.
Movie:theatre-ILL
To a movie theatre.
Niin.
Yes.
29
There are actually two co-constructions (also in lines 3-4), but I will analyse the first one in the next
subsection 5.2.2.4.
93
5 Collaborative productions
07
B:
08
→
09
R: →
10
B:
Ja baari-in juo
kahvi-a
puhut-aan.
And bar-ILL drink.3SG coffee-PTV talk-4
And to a bar, drink coffee, let’s talk.
Kosk(h)a
tämä: on
on,
Because
this be.3SG be.3SG
Because this is,
Viimeinen päivä.
Last
day.
The last day.
Viimeinen päivä.
Last
day.
The last day.
At the end of B’s preliminary component, the finite verb on, ‘is’, is
reduplicated. This could also be a sign of some types of problems in
formulating utterances. It is also important to note that even though they are
discussing the next week, B uses the pronoun tämä, ‘this’. However, the use
of the pronoun does affect the outcome and R produces the final component
viimeinen päivä, ‘final day’.
The participants in the following example are discussing different reality
television programmes and they think that those programmes divide
television viewers into two separate categories. There are those viewers who
like them while there are others who cannot stand watching them. Before
this particular excerpt, speaker S has stated that a certain group of people
watches television only for fun and that they love these reality television
programmes and to them, television is only bread and circuses, ‘panem et
circences’. M tries to defend this group and argues that even though S might
think that those programmes are rubbish, others might appreciate this as a
good programme. However, in line 2, S utters the word tositeeveetä, ‘reality
television’, and makes it clear that as far as he is concerned, both rubbish
and reality television are one and the same.
(29) MV 40. <01:33:50>
01
M: →
02
S: →
03
M:
Su-n
miele-stä ↑roska-a
hän-en miele-stä-än
2SG-GEN mind-ELA rubbish-PTV 3SG-GEN mind-ELA-PX
se on
[hyvä ohjelma.]
3SG be.3SG good programme
You think it is rubbish he thinks it is a good programme.
[Tositeevee-tä.]
Reality:television-PTV
Reality television.
Eri:
mielip(h)ite-i-tä on.
Different opinion-PL-PTV
be.3SG
There are different opinions.
94
5 Collaborative productions
Finnish and Russian languages differ with respect to the verb ‘be’ in the
present tense, but similar co-constructions can be found in both languages.
The Finnish copula verb is expressed in all tenses, but in Russian, the copula
is zero-marked in the present tense. In Finnish, the copula shows tense,
person and the number of the subject.
In Russian, the verb byt’, ‘to be’, is usually zero-marked in the present
tense. Therefore, a copulative clause consists of a subject and a predicate
nominal that is indicated by a nominal part. Structurally, the next three
examples are similar. In the first two examples, there is a pronoun èto, ‘it’,
as well as the short forms of the adjective nevežlivo, ‘impolite’, which
functions as an adverb, as well as estestvenno, ‘natural’, which functions as
a predicative. In the first example, speaker H displays agreement with the
agreement-token da, ‘yes’ (Szczepek 2000b: 26).
(30) UM 41. <01:40:43>
01
N:
02
?:
03
N:
04
05
N: →
06
A: →
Da ↑èt-o
naverno ne zna-ju
(-) nu: naš-ej
Yes 3SG-NEU probably NEG know-1SG (-) well our-GEN
kul’tur-y
da.
culture-GEN yes
Yes it is probably I do not know well of our culture yes.
Da.
Yes.
DA.
Yes.
(3)
Ne govor-im ne govor-im tak @ja:@ da èt-o
ne
NEG talk-1PL NEG talk-1PL so
1SG yes 3SG-NEU NEG
zna-ju
èto [(.)
know-1SG 3SG
We do not talk we do not talk like that I yes it is I do not
know it is
[Ne↓vežliv-o.
Impolite-NEU
Impolite.
(31) DM 54. <01:31>
01
H:
02
03
H:
On-a
nič-ego
ne ume-l-a
krome
kovr-y
3SG-FEM nothing-GEN GEN can-PST-FEM except carpet-PL
dela-t’.
do-INF
She could not make anything els but carpets.
((laughter))
Kovr-y
dela-t’ zna-l-a
on-a (.) tabasaransk-ie
Carpet-PL do-INF know-PST-FEM 3SG-FEM Tabasaran-PL
kovr-y.
carpet-PL
Carpets she knew how to do Tabasaran carpets.
95
5 Collaborative productions
04
M:
05
H: →
06
M: →
↑I: nosk-i vjaza-t’ ↑čulk-i
vjaza-t’.
And sock-PL knit-INF stocking-PL knit-INF
And to knit socks and stockings.
Nu:
<èt-o>
èt-o
(.)
Well 3SG-NEU 3SG-NEU (.)
Well it it
È↓t-o
estestvenn-o.
3SG-NEU natural-NEU
It is natural.
The example that follows has a subject NP proiznošenie, ‘pronunciation’,
and a predicative consisting of an adjective phrase sovsem drugoe,
‘completely different’:
(32) UM 44. <01:27:18>
01
N:
02
?:
03
N:
04
?:
05
N: →
06
М: →
Da i
e↑ščë tam
n: nekotory-m meša-et
tot ↓fakt čto
Yes and yet
there s- some-DAT
bother-3SG that fact that
tot è
tot šved-sk-ij
ja↓zyk
kotoro-that VOC that Swedish-ADJ-MASC language whic->kotoro-mu ↑uča-t’-sja<
v
Finljandi-i škol’nik-i: i
which-DAT teach-INF-PRT PRE Finland-PREP pupil-PL
and
gimnazist-y (.) èt-o
↑fin-sk-ij
variant
student-PL
3SG-NEU Finnish-ADJ-MASC variant
šved-sk-ogo
jazyk-a.
Swedish-ADJ-GEN.MASC language-GEN
Yes and some are bothered by that fact that that the Swedish
language that is taught in Finland at schools to pupils and
sixth formers is the Finnish variant of the Swedish
language.
Ugu.
Uhhuh.
Kotor-yj
(.) è: nu: uže
dovol’no <mnogo>
Which-MASC (.) VOC well already quite
lot
otliča-et-sja ot to-go
švedsk-ogo jazyk-↑a
differ-3SG-PRT PRE that-GEN Swedish-GEN language-GEN
kotor-yj
na kotor-om
govor-↑jat v
Šveci-i.
which-MASC PRE which-PREP.MASC speak-3PL PRE Sweden-PREP
Which well already pretty much differs from that Swedish
language which in which they speak in Sweden.
Ugu.
Uhhuh.
To est’ (.) proiznošenie uže
[(.) drug-oe.
It be.3SG
pronunciation already (.) different-NEU
That is the pronunciation is already different.
[>Sovsem<
drug-oe.
Completely different-NEU
Completely different.
The participants in the Finnish examples appropriately used the verb ‘be’,
but in the Russian examples, the participants did not even attempt to use any
96
5 Collaborative productions
type of the be-verb. While the structures of Finnish and Russian differ in this
respect, the participants have the same means of co-constructing utterances.
It is possible that participants co-construct the syntactic structures that are
more complex. Those structures consist of two parts and the first, or the
preliminary component, is a full lexical noun phrase that one speaker
produces. In contrast, the second part, or the final component, is a clause,
comprising a co-indexical pronoun with the NP that is produced by another
speaker. (VISK § 1018, Pekarek Doehler 2011.) This phenomenon can be
referred to as left-dislocation, or it can be described as a ‘split to the left’.
However, these characteristics only apply when describing the written forms
of language. When analysing spoken language, these categories can be
somewhat undemonstrative. (See, e.g. Auer 2009: 4 for challenging the
terminology used in the research of spoken language.) Finnish grammar
(VISK § 1018) emphasizes the turn organisational context of those
constructions and uses the term ‘split’ to refer to the beginning because they
are placed at the beginning of the turn.
Pekarek Doehler (2011) has analysed the left-dislocated constructions in
French conversations and divides the sequential structures of these
constructions into three parts. The first part is a first speaker who
syntactically breaks off or hesitates in formulating his or her turn. The
second part consists of the second speaker producing an anticipatory
completion that is syntactically designed to fit the first speaker’s utterance.
Third, the first speaker can express either an acceptance or a refusal.
Interactionally, by way of the final component in a range of actions can be
accomplished, such as providing help, displaying knowledge or enacting
alignment. (Pekarek Doehler 2011: 55, 59.) Pekarek Doehler argues that an
NP does not necessarily strictly command the possible format of the
anticipatory completion. Doehler states that this indicates that both
grammatical projection and its interpretation are context sensitive and are
heavily dependent on the sequential environment. It is also possible that
other-completion occurs “beyond what can be interpreted as the preliminary
component.” (Ibid. 56–57.)
Example 33 features N, who initiates her turn by inquiring from E
whether their schoolbooks and lectures were all in Russian. She produces
two lexical NP’s at the beginning of her turn: vaši vse èti učebniki, ‘all of
your schoolbooks’, and lekcii,‘lectures’. In line 2, E starts the final
component simultaneously with N’s utterance and confirms that all their
lectures and books were in Russian:
97
5 Collaborative productions
(33) TI 13. <15:31>
01
N: →
02
E: →
03
N:
.h Vaš-i
↑vs-e
èt-i
učebnik-i
.h i: lekci-i
.h 2PL.POSS-PL all-PL this-PL schoolbook-PL .h and lecturePL ↑vs-e
[(.) by-l-i
na ↓rus-sk-om.
all-PL (.) be-PST-PL PRE Russian-ADJ-PREP
Your all these schoolbooks and lectures all were in Russian.
[Vs-e
by-l-i
↑po rus-sk-im
All-PL be-PST-PL PRE Russian-ADJ-INST.MASC
jazyk-e.
language-PREP
All were in the Russian language.
Aga.
Aha.
Although Pekarek Doehler’s article discusses French conversations, the
same observations also appear to be valid for this Russian example.
According to Pekarek Doehler (2011: 56–57), these types of NPs in French
normatively project several potential follow-ups. One of them is a full clause
yielding a left-dislocation or hanging topic, which also occurs in this
example. Nonetheless this constitutes only one example. In order to analyse
phenomenon more precisely, it requires more research.
5.2.5 The semantic motivation that triggers collaborative productions:
the Finnish verb mennä, ‘to go’ + direction
I will address one interesting case of Finnish that resembles government
instances, although they are considered to be grammatically different. In
Finnish conversations, there are four cases consisting of a verb mennä, ‘to
go’. This type of verb requires that its complement possesses a certain
direction, not a particular case. In Finnish, this direction involves the
illative, allative, or the complement can be an adverbial. Grammatically,
those are not seen as a part of a government phenomenon (VISK § 1225).
In the first example, the participants are conversing after their Finnish
class. At the beginning of this excerpt, speaker M tells that they will go
study afterwards. In line 5, L checks that she has understood the utterance.
In lines 7–8, speakers M and R collaboratively produce the structure tänään
me menemme kirjastoon, ‘today we go to the library’:
(34) FC 96. <04:06>
01
M:
02
R:
Tänään me: mene-mme: ö: (2) opiskele-maan.
Today 1PL go-1PL
VOC (2) study-INF
Today we go study.
A:.
VOC
98
5 Collaborative productions
03
M:
04
05
L
06
R:
07
M: →
08
R: →
09
M:
10
11
S:
M:
12
L
13
R:
14
M:
Ö:,
VOC
(2)
Te mene-tte o↑piskele-maan.
2PL go-2PL
study-INF
You go study.
Ö:.
VOC
Tänään me mene-mme,
Today 1PL go-1PL
Today we go,
Kir↓jasto-on.
Library-ILL
To the library.
Kirjasto-on.
Library-ILL
To the library.
(-)
Kuka: halua-a,
Who want-3SG
Who wants to,
Mi-tä
te mene-tte ↑opiskele-maan.
What-PTV 2PL go-2PL
study-INF
What are you going to study.
Puhe↓kieli.
Spoken:language.
Puhekieli.
Spoken:language.
The formation of the joint utterance is made possible by the semantic
motivation. The verb mennä, ‘to go’, requires a complement that indicates
direction. Indicating direction is anticipatory, and participants are therefore
able to produce constructions together. In the first example and in the next
one, the complements are expressed by full NPs. In the next case, three
participants contribute to constructing the conversation. Speakers B and L
begin the sequence in lines 1–2. In line 3, B begins to describe what the
study group would do on Monday after they have received their diplomas:
jos haluamme mennämme, ‘if we want we go’, which is then completed by
speaker R in line 4: kahville which is literally ‘to coffee’. However, this was
not what the original speaker had in mind (cf. Sczcepek 2000b: 21). In line
5, B rejects the offer made by R and adds the complement he had been
envisioning, elokuvateatteriin, ‘to a movie theatre’:
(35) FC 93. <06:22>
01
B:
Sitten maanantai-na (.) >ja: ja ja<
Then
Monday-ESS
(.) and and and
Then on Monday and after,
99
jälkeen,
after
5 Collaborative productions
02
L:
03
B:
04
R:
05
B:
06
L:
Todistus-t-en jao-n
jälkeen.
Diploma-PL-GEN presentation-GEN after
After giving out the diplomas.
Todistus-t-en >mene-mme< kaikki jos halu-a
men-nä
Diploma-PL-GEN go-1PL
all
if want-3SG go-INF
ravintola-an
jos halua-mme mennä-mme
restaurant-ILL if want-1PL go-1PL
After the diplomas we all go if want to go to a restaurant
if we want to go
Kahvi-lle.
Coffee-ALL
For a coffee.
↑Elokuvateatteri-in.
Movie:theatre-ILL
To a movie theatre.
Niin.
Yes.
The original speaker rejects the final component of the collaborative
production, and the original speaker does this by the power invested with
him by the overall structure of co-constructions. However, this demonstrates
that constructing collaborative productions is not merely a simple task.
When the form of the complement is determined by government
phenomena, the case is determined in advance. For example, if the verb is
kysyä, ‘ask’, it requires that the complement be in the elative case: kysyä
Nauko-lta. When the verb requires that its complement possesses a certain
direction, there are many possibilities. One can mennä kahville ‘go to
coffee’, or ‘go swimming’, mennä uimaan In other words, the complement
can be a noun phrase, an adposition phrase, or an infinitive phrase (VISK §
1225).
It is also possible that similar constructions occur over a within a short
time span. This is because once the common ground is established, it can be
used again. The following example contains two constructions that have the
verb mennä. In the first excerpt, the final component consists of an adverb
ylös, ‘up’, and in the second excerpt, the final component is another adverb,
ulos, ‘outside’.
(36) FC 58. <01:04:10>
01
B: →
02
L →
Miksi: (1) miksi: (.) tuli (.) tulipalo mene-e
Why
(.) why
(.) fire (.) fire
go-3SG
[(.) ylhää-llä.
(.) high-ADE
Why fire fire goes up.
[>Ylös< ylös.
Up
up.
100
5 Collaborative productions
03
B:
04
05
L
06
B:
07
R:
08
M:
09
R: →
Ylös ei: ylös ylhää-llä kaikki kerrokse-n koska
se on
Up NEG up
high-ADE every floor-GEN because 3SG be.3SG
ensimmäinen kerros.
first
floor
Up not up high every floor because it is the first floor.
(1)
Mhy.
Uhhuh.
Ja jos on
<tuli tuli> (2)
And if be.3SG fire fire (2)
And if it is fire fire
Mutta savu ↑voi
men-nä ulos.
But
smoke can.3SG go-INF out
But the smoke can go out.
Men-nä ulos.
Go-INF out
Go out.
(---)
10
L: →
No
mutta nor↑maalise-sti e au-- jos minä katso-n
normal-ADV
VOC he-- if 1SG
watch-1SG
tule-en automaattise-sti minä: ↑halua-n men-nä [ulos.
fire-ILL automatical-ADV 1SG
want-1SG go-INF out
Well but normally if I look at fire automatically I want to
go out.
[Ulos joo.
Out yeah.
Well but
Even though the structures of this subsection were not exceedingly
complex, it demonstrates that in addition to syntactic criteria, participants
are also able to observe semantic categories. As a semantic category, a
frequent category that can be used in collaborative productions is direction.
5.3 Participants co-construct a complex sentence
Next, I will present examples of participants co-constructing a complex
sentence. The Finnish and Russian data contain only a few of these cases.
Structurally, these complex sentences approximate those compound turnconstructional units that consist of if-then structures (Lerner 1991: 442). As
in the previous examples, the important aspect for the analysis of these cases
is the two-part utterance format. When taking into account complex
sentences, structurally they consist of two or more simple sentences that are
conjoined by conjunction that is usually situated in the preliminary part.
There are only few cases of complex sentences in the data that include a
main clause and a subordinate clause. Let us consider the following example
in which the subordinate clause functions as an object:
101
5 Collaborative productions
(37) FC 98. <03:26>
01
L:
02
B:
03
M: →
04
L: →
05
M:
06
L
07
M: →
08
09
M:
10
L →
11
M:
Otta-kaa
↑Muhammed mukaan Muhammed.
Take-IMP.2PL Muhammed with
Muhammed
Take Muhammed with you Muhammed.
Jos halua-n (-)
If want-1SG (-)
If I want
Minä sano-n häne:-lle e: hän,
1SG say-1SG 3SG-ALL
VOC 3SG
I say to him he,
Ei
halua.
NEG.3SG want.
does not want to.
Ei: mutta ei minä e-n
sa↑no-nu e-n
NEG but
NEG 1SG NEG-1SG say-PCP NEG-1SG
Now but now I did not say did not say.
<E-n
sano-nut.>
NEG-1SG say-PCP
I did not say.
Hän ei
sano-nut mutta ↑minä kysy-i-n
3SG NEG.3SG say-PCP but
1SG ask-PST-1SG
minä: (.) halua-n
1SG
(.) want-1SG
He did not say, but I asked him I want
(1)
Ö:
VOC
Että hän tule-e.
That 3SG come-3SG
That he comes.
↑Että hän tule-e.
That 3SG come-3SG
That he comes.
sano-nut.
say-PCP
häne-ltä e:
3SG-ABL VOC
The final component in these cases is more complex in nature because it
consists of more than only one word, but the speaker who produced the
preliminary component has the opportunity to evaluate the suggested final
component and to continue speaking. In this example, speaker M repeats the
final component and approves its suitability.
When analysing co-ordinate complex sentences, different types of
conjunctions can function as markers that enable collaborative productions.
In the first example, the complex sentence is constructed by using an
adversative conjunction a, which can be translated as ‘but’ in this particular
case. However, this conjunction is not as contrastive as the conjunction no.
Instead, the conjunction a shows that the contents of the co-ordinate
sentences are somewhat opposing, but not fully contradictory.
102
5 Collaborative productions
The participants in this excerpt are discussing that education was free in
the old days and therefore everyone had an opportunity to study and to
receive an education. Today, however, not everyone has the opportunity to
educate themselves because education is expensive. In line 16, speaker E
begins to describe the current situation as den’gi est’ a, ‘there is money but’,
which is then completed by speaker N as horošo ne učatsja, ‘(they) do not
study well’. The conjunction is situated at the end of the preliminary
component. While this makes the completion possible, it requires another
main clause to complete it.
(38) TI 6. <13:10>
01
N:
02
E:
03
N:
04
E:
05
N:
06
E:
07
N:
08
E:
09
N:
10
E:
11
N:
12
E:
13
N:
14
E:
Oni govor-jat čto kogda ↑my (-) besplatn-o by-l-o.
They talk-3PL that when 1PL (-) free-NEU
be-PST-NEU
They say that when we were it was free.
↑A:.
VOC
.h A
sejčas [(.) govor-jat <mnogo sto-it.>
.h But now
(.) talk-3PL lot
cost-3SG
But now they say it costs a lot.
[sčas (-) dollar [(.) (-) dollar?
Now (-) dollar (.) (-) dollar
Now a dollar?
[Aga.
Aha.
((Tajik language)) [dvadcat’ tri četyre ↑dollar-a.
twenty three four
dollar-GEN
twenty-three, four- dollars.
[Ugu. Aga.
Uhhuh. Aha.
Očen’ dešev-o.
Very low-NEU
Very low.
Da.
Yes.
.h Čut’-čut’
(-) bogat-yj >bogat-yj uč-it-sja.<
.h little-little (-) rich-MASC rich-MASC study-3SG-PRT
Very little. Rich people study.
Ugu
da: èt-o
žalk-o.
Uhhuh yes 3SG-NEU pity-NEU
Uhhuh, yes, it is a pity.
Da.
Yes.
.h (-) vse-m
by-l-o
voz↑možn-o.
.h (-) all-DAT be-PST-NEU possible-NEU
Everyone had the opportunity.
Da tam
(.) .h ↑bedn-yj
uč-it-sja
ot↓ličn-o.
Yes there (.) .h poor-MASC study-3SG-PRT excellent-ADV
Yes,there poor study excellent.
103
5 Collaborative productions
15
N:
16
E: →
17
N: →
18
E:
19
N:
Da.
Yes.
A
den’g-i ne to
o
.h t-- bo↑gatstv-e (-) den’g-i
But money-PL NEG that PRE .h t-- wealth-PREP (-) money-PL
↑est’
ºa
[h-,
be.3SG but wBut money is not the issue. From wealth, there is money but
w-,
[Horoš-o ne uč-at-sja.
Well-ADV NEG study-3PL-PRT
They do not study well.
((Tajik)) ne horoš-o uč-at-sja
oni.
NEG well-ADV study-3PL-PRT 3PL
Not well, they do study.
Da ºda.º
Yes yes.
As we have observed in the previous subsections (especially in
subsection 5.2.1 concerning the coordinated words and phrases), the
recognisability of structures can also enable collaborative productions. The
same observation is valid for co-ordinate complex sentences. The following
example shares some characteristics with the list constructions (for example,
see Jefferson 1990, Koivisto 2011: 96–109, Lerner 1994). According to
Jefferson (1990: 81–82), a list can be constructed by more than one speaker
and a linking term (‘and’, ‘or’) can be used to achieve a collaborative
construction.
The participants of the following excerpt are discussing languages that
are used for educational purposes in Tajikistan. The official language is
Tajik, but since the Russian language was in such a significant position in
Tajikistan during the Soviet era, some politicians are advocating raising its
status again. To accomplish this, there are Russian-language days at schools,
which means that the language spoken in classes during these days is
Russian. In line 1, N begins to enumerate possible subjects: u škol’nikov vo
vtornik est’ i biologija i geografija I, ‘the students have on Tuesday biology
and geography and’. Speaker N uses the conjunction I, ‘and’, in order to
form a list, therefore creating recognisability that can be detected by the coparticipant. In line 3, the co-participant, E, produces the recapitulation vse
predmety razgovarivaet tol’ko po-russki, ‘all subjects are spoken only in
Russian’.
(39) TI 28. <16:16>
01
N:
.h Aga: tak ja duma-l-a.
.h Aha that 1SG think-PST-FEM
Aha, that is what I thought.
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5 Collaborative productions
02
→
03
E: →
04
N:
05
Značit >u
u< škol’nik-ov vo vtornik est’
i
So
PRE PRE pupil-GEN.PL PRE Tuesday be.3SG both
biologija i: geografija i,
biology
and geography and
So the pupils have on Tuesday both biology and geography
and,
Vs-e
predmet-y razgovariva-et ↑tol’ko russki.
All-PL subject-PL discuss-3SG
only
Russian
All the subjects are taught only in Russian.
Aga a
vy (.) èt-o
v
↑dejstvitel’nost-i ra↑bota-et
Aha but 2PL
3SG-NEU PRE reality-PREP
work-3SG
sejčas, (.)
now
Aha, but does it work in reality now,
Vy skaza-l-i čto ne ↑vs-e
učitel-i
govor-jat
2PL say-PST-PL that NEG all-PL teacher-PL speak-3PL
po-rus-sk-i
horoš-o.
PRE-Russian-ADJ-ADV good-ADV.
You said that not all teachers can speak Russian well.
In the previous examples, the conjunction occurred in the preliminary
component. When an utterance ends in a conjunction, the recipient can
address the situation in different ways. On the one hand, as reported in
previous research, when the preceding turn contains a conjunction at the
end, the recipient does not usually orient to it as being incomplete (Koivisto
2011: 58, Walker 2012: 149). That is, the recipient treats the previous turn as
informationally complete (Walker 2012: 149). On the other hand, a
conjunction at the end of the preliminary component can project
continuation (for example, Koivisto 2011: 96–109 for list constructions).
Example 40 features speakers G and J discussing their experiences in a
small Russian town. G has moved to Russia in order to get a degree. He is
originally from the Ivory Coast and has previously mentioned on the tape
that because he looks different from an average Russian, he has faced many
problems in Russia. In this excerpt, G is talking about his Russian friends
who are friendly towards him at the university but who do not invite him to
their homes. In lines 2–3, he expresses that he sometimes gets the feeling
that they would like to invite him, but they are afraid of the reactions of their
parents and friends. He creates a complex sentence with the contrastive
conjunction no, ‘but’. He then continues that he has never been invited
anywhere by a Russian although the idea might have crossed their minds. A
contrast has been developed between what is wanted and what might occur.
In line 6, G initiates the utterance ty znaeš’ čhto on hočet no, ‘you know that
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5 Collaborative productions
he wants to’, and J completes the complex sentence with on ne možet, ‘he
cannot’. The same contrastive structure is identified by speaker J.
(40) IS 61. <09:48>
01 G:
02
03
04
05
06
→
07 J: →
08 G:
Počemu prinës-ø-ø
tak-oj
↓čelovek.
Why
bring-PST-MASC such-MASC human being
Why did you bring that kind of man.
Inogda
ty ↑tože duma-eš’ čto oni ↑hot-jat,
Sometimes 2SG also think-2SG that 3PL want-3PL
Sometimes you can also think that they want to,
No oni očen’ bo-jat-sja
čto bud-ut
govori-t’
But 3PL very be.scared-3PL-PRT what will.FUT-3PL say-INF
>roditel-i ili ljud-i<
vokrug znakom-ye
vot tak-ie.
parent-PL or people-PL around acquaintance-PL PRT such-PL
But they are very scared what will say parents or people
around or acquaintances well that kind of.
Nikogda net mne
rus-sk-ij
čelovek >skaza-l-ø<
Never
NEG 1SG.DAT Russian-ADJ-MASC man
say-PST-MASC
podj-ëm
kuda-to ili.
go-IMP.1PL somewhere or.
A Russian man has never said to me “let’s go somewhere”.
On mož-et byt’ i
↑duma-et,
3SG perhaps
and think-3SG
He perhaps thinks about it,
Ty zna-eš’ čto on hoč-et
no,
2SG know-2SG that 3SG want-3SG but
You know that he wants to but,
On ne mož-et.
3SG NEG can-3SG
He cannot.
Da: on ne mož-et dela-t’.
Yes 3SG NEG can-3SG do-INF
Yes he cannot do it.
In this particular case, the interpretation of the conjunction no, ‘but’, is
purely contrastive. In line 6, speaker G talks about “wanting,” and wanting
is usually something that is done out of pure will. This type of use can be
also called the concessive, meaning that it is not expected (see, for example,
VISK § 1139, AG-80 § 3043–3057 for concessive relations). On the other
hand, speaker G has prefaced his upcoming utterance at the beginning of the
excerpt and has projected the form of the final component. He has explained
that although he has Russian friends, they do not invite him to their home. In
line 6, he initiates his turn: ty znaeš’čto on hočet no, ʻyou know that he
wants to but’, which is then completed by speaker J: on ne možet, ‘he
cannot’. Regarding this particular case, the conjunction no, ‘but’, has not
lost its contrastive power. In English, there seems to be a tendency towards
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5 Collaborative productions
the turn-initial conjunction but becoming a turn-initial discourse particle
(Mulder & Thompson 2008). Mulder and Thompson call this the
“grammaticization of the ‘final but’” (ibid. 194).
5.4 Summary
At the beginning of chapter 5, I referred to the previous research on lingua
franca interaction and to the fact that candidate completions were absent in
scholars results, such as in the data presented by Firth (1996: 246). Although
the data analysed in the present study differs significantly from Firth’s data
on telephone calls, it is interesting that there are many collaborative
productions on many different levels.
There are different types of linguistic structures which enable
collaborative productions. Participants can co-construct list constructions
with the help of coordinating conjunctions. If the conjunction is not used in
a list construction, it can still enable the construction of collaborative
production even though it is not common (Koivisto 2011: 58, Walker 2012:
149). The use of intensifiers in the preliminary part creates a projection that
can be delivered in the final part with adjectives. In government cases, there
is also a possibility that participants can negotiate the correct form of the
noun phrase.
In both the Finnish and Russian data, there were cases that consisted of a
noun phrase functioning as a subject and a predicate verb. Structurally, these
examples were not exceedingly complex. Two of them consisted of a
personal pronoun and a predicate verb. One consisted of a proper noun and a
predicate in negative form. These findings differ from the results reported by
Helasvuo (2004). In her research, Helasvuo reported no instances that
consisted of a subject and a predicate. Furthermore Helasvuo concluded
(ibid. 1332), that it is more likely for the subject and verb to be grouped
together than the verb and object. With respect to the findings of the present
study, this claim has been reopened for discussion.
The recognisability of structures and actions can enable collaborative
productions. Moreover, semantic features can also trigger collaboration. In
the Finnish examples, the participants were able to co-construct structures
such as the verb mennä, ‘to go’, and the directional complement.
Recognisability also means that participants can recycle the same
construction and produce similar collaborative productions. In addition, the
order of the elements can be reversed because the recognisability has
already been established.
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5 Collaborative productions
As was evident in the examples, different types of collaborative
productions can all occur in a short extract. While this means that the extract
must be analysed thoroughly and meticulously, it also shows that the
conversational participants are continuously following the conversation.
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6 Word searches
6.1 Previous research on word searches
This chapter is devoted to another type of constructions that participants coconstruct in conversation. These constructions differ somewhat from the
collaborative productions because in these cases, the first speaker encounters
some difficulties in formulating his or her speech. As a response, the
recipient has an opportunity to help his or her co-participant. In this chapter,
I concentrate on those conversation excerpts that contain participant
problems in finding a correct or appropriate word, or when the speaker does
not know how to inflect words. These word searches sometimes share many
features of co-constructions. To understand word searches therefore requires
a thorough analysis of turn-organisational, sequential and syntactic
structures of the conversational excerpts.
While the term ‘word search’ may be too obscure to capture the whole
phenomenon for describing sequences, it tells us something very essential
about these sequences. The interactants are searching for something and
sometimes the item being sought is more than a word, as it can also be a
longer syntactic unit. (Kurhila 2006: 91.) Goodwin & Goodwin (1986: 56)
emphasize that a successful word search is not merely a distinct task.
Indeed, achieving an outcome “is relevant to the talk in progress, since it is
precisely some type of outcome that will permit the interrupted talk to move
to word completion once again” (ibid.). However, Goodwin & Goodwin
(ibid.) criticise the use of the term ‘word search’, but they concede that this
term might be “a useful gloss for the phenomena being investigated, it
clearly does not describe what is being sought with adequate accuracy.”
I will adopt the term word search as a general conception and will define
the search sequences more adequately when analysing them. As I
established earlier, my aim is to focus on those word-search sequences that
involve both the self and other, which can also be described by the terms
‘current speaker’ and ‘recipient’.
Word searches are common in all everyday conversations, and thus these
are not characteristic only of NNS interaction. Researchers have also
analysed the word-search strategies of aphasic speakers (Helasvuo et al.
2004, Laakso & Klippi 1999). Only during the last decade or so, aphasic
word search has been studied from more interactionally-oriented point of
view (for example, see Helasvuo et al. 2004: 2).
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6 Word searches
If we describe word searches from the perspective of repair organization,
word search can be defined as representing a self-initiation of repair
(Kurhila 2006: 91). More specifically, word search is a specific type of selfinitiation of repair. Self-initiations within the trouble-source turn are often
marked with non-lexical perturbations, such as cut-offs or sound stretches
(Kurhila 2006: 91, Schegloff et al. 1977). That was likewise the case in
example 1. The self-initiated word search was marked by non-lexical
perturbations and this led to other-repair. As Kurhila (2006: 91) suggests,
“hesitancy-marked turns were found to be one environment preceding otherrepair.”
The difference between cut-offs and pauses can also be made based on the
position in the turn. Generally speaking, a cut-off is usually postpositioned
because it initiates a repair on an element that has already been produced in
the turn. A pause is usually prepositioned because it is a substitute for a
next-due element, that is, it initiates a repair on an element that comes after
it. Syntactically, a cut-off is disjunctive because it interrupts the syntactic
projection that was formed in the sentence-so-far. Pausing may delay the
syntactic projection, but nonetheless it carries it forward. (Lerner 1996: 242–
243, Schegloff 1979: 273.)
This chapter will examine the way actual word searches are initiated,
solved, and evaluated (table 6). First, I will introduce actual search instances
and demonstrate how the problematic cases arise in the conversation.
Second, I will analyse how the search is solved. Third, the initiator of the
word search can evaluate the produced word and its appropriateness. This
type of general formula of word searches assures a consistent analytical
procedure, but it also enables u7 to consider those examples that are
constructed differently.
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6 Word searches
Table 6. Word searches.
Word searches
Problem
Finnish (37)
Pauses,
hesitations
Russian (14)
8
9
29
5
24
12
11
2
27
6
3
5
4
3
2
2
Verbalisation, use
of other
languages
Resolution
Direct offer,
one word
Prolonged search
sequences
Reaction
Repetition,
acceptance
Direct
continuation
Co-participant
continues
Unsolved cases
As the figures above show, word-search sequences consist of three steps:
initiation, resolution and reaction. It is also possible that the sequence
remains unsolved.
6.2 How speakers indicate that there is a problem?
One of the means that the speakers have to indicate that they are
encountering a problem in turn formation is to pause their turn. Other ways
are, for example, separate search sounds (‘mm’, ‘uh’, and ‘er’). At a later
stage, speakers may also make the search more explicit with questions like
‘What is it’ (Schegloff et al. 1977: 363, 367).
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6 Word searches
When analysing word searches, I will follow Kurhila’s (2006: 91)
suggestion to classify word searches as belonging to repair organisation. The
organisation of repair can be understood as a hyperonym for the different
procedures through which interactants address their problems in producing,
hearing or understanding talk (Schegloff et al. 1977: 361, Sorjonen 1997:
111). Repair sequences consist of two parts, of a trouble-source turn (the
repairable) and the repair turn that may be preceded by a repair initiation.
The repairable may have some specific features (for example, errors or
mistakes in speech production) but that is not necessary. (Schegloff et al.
1977: 363.)
To appeal for assistance, interactants can also use other non-lexical
actions. One of the main actions is gaze (see Goodwin 1987: 117). For
instance, recipients characteristically gaze toward the speaker during word
searches. Goodwin & Goodwin (1986) described a range of nonverbal
practices used by both current speakers and recipients to co-construct the
activity of searching for a word. Speakers typically withdraw their gaze
from the recipient when the search begins, but may also show the facial
expression of a “thinking face.” Recipients interpret this withdrawal as a
sign that even though the participants is not speaking, the speaker has not
relinquished the floor, is engaged in searching for a word, and does not to be
interrupted. However, if the current speaker gazes at the recipient during a
search in progress, this is interpreted as an invitation to participate in the
search. Gaze shifts are therefore a systematic component of word searches in
face-to-face interaction. Furthermore, the speakers in Kurhila’s data (2006:
96) direct their search to the recipient by shifting their gaze to him/her when
appealing for assistance.
Other nonverbal actions, such as hand gestures, often occur in connection
with word searches. While searching for words, speakers often wave or
whirl their hands (Goodwin & Goodwin 1986) or, they could also raise their
palm or finger to indicate their turn holding (Laakso 1997: 170-171). As I
was not the sole data collector for the data collection presented here, some
interviews were recorded, but not videotape. This means that I was not able
to analyse gaze or gestures consistently throughout the material. However, I
have transcribed gazes, gestures, and other nonverbal elements as precisely
as possible. In some of the examples, the current speaker attempts to involve
the interlocutor in determining the correct item by using gaze or other
gestures. I will discuss the role of these features more thoroughly with the
relevant examples.
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6 Word searches
6.2.1 Pauses and hesitations that indicate a word search
When facing problems in turn-formation, the current speaker has multiple
means of expressing it. This chapter will present an analysis of the examples
including the pauses, speech perturbations and other hesitation markers that
indicate a word search. In those cases, the turn is interrupted and the point of
interruption is marked by a variety of ways that signal the initiation of selfrepair. The point of interruption is placed in the mid-course of a turnconstructional unit. (Goodwin & Goodwin 1986: 55, 60.)
In the first example, the participants are discussing immigrants in
Finland. S begins to tell about an ambassador in Mexico. In line 4, she is
displaying difficulties in finding a correct word. She pauses before
producing the question mikä se on suomeksi, ‘what is it in Finnish’. In line
4, she defines her search and describes a certain group of immigrants. She
defines the group with the help of nationalities and mentions the Somali and
Chilean immigrants. In line 5, another participant fills in the missing word
and pronounces the English equivalent of refugees. It is interesting that
speaker S attempts to find the appropriate word by pronouncing those
refugee groups that are essential in the Finnish context.
(41) WN 1. <35:42>
01
S:
02
S:
03
S:
Minä voi-n
selittä
↑suome-ksi
vähän tä-stä
1SG can-1SG explain.INF Finnish-TRANS little this-ABL
naise-sta joka on
suurlähe-- suurlähettiläs Meksiko-ssa.
woman-ABL who be.3SG ambassa-- ambassador
Mexico-INE
I can explain in Finnish of this woman who is an ambassador
in Mexico.
Hän
↑kysy-y mi-tä
se on
(.) tärkeä
paperi
3SG.FEM ask-3SG what-PTV 3SG be.3SG (.) important paper
<maahanmuuttaj-i-en> e
massmedia-n
kanssa.
immigrant-PL-GEN
VOC mass media-GEN with.
She asks what is is an important paper of immigrants with
mass media.
Ja tämä nainen sa↓no-o että (2) Suome-ssa
anta-a (.)
And this woman say-3SG that (2) Finland-INE give-3SG (.)
>maahanmuuttaj-i-en< noin kaksikymmentä viisi vuot-ta
sitten
immigrant-PL-GEn
about twenty
five
year-PTV then
kun se alka-- tämä (.) mikä se on
when 3SG begin-- this (.) what 3SG be.3SG
suom-- e- suome-ksi,
Finn-- VOC Finnish-TRANS
And this woman says that in Finland they give the
immigrants about twenty-five years then when it begin this
what is it in Finnish,
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6 Word searches
04
05
?: →
06
G: →
07
S:
E-n
ole varma tämä sano-j-a
kun esimerki-ksi tule-e
NEG-1SG be sure this word-PL-PTV when example-TRANS come3SG
↑somalialais-i-a ↑chileläis-i-ä koska
se on,
Somali-PL-PTV
Chilean-PL-PTV because 3SG be.3SG
I am not sure about the word when for example come Somali or
Chilean because it is,
Refugee,
Refugee,
Yeah ↑pako[lais-i-a.
Yeah refugee-PL-PTV
Yeah refugees.
[Pakolais-i-a
e-n
ole kaikki <sano-a
Refugee-PL-PTV NEG-1SG be all
say-INF
sano-j-a>
suome-ksi.
word-PL-PTV Finnish-TRANS
Refugees I do not have all say words in Finnish.
In line 6, G translates the English word into Finnish and produces it in
the partitive case. S approves the suggested word and admits that she does
not know all the words in Finnish. From the perspective of the whole search
sequence, it begins with a pause that is followed by a verbal initiation and
when listing different groups, the current speaker is trying to find the correct
word. For this reason, the sequence is rather complicated. However, the
actual word offer involves only one word. First, the word is in English and is
then translated into Finnish.
In this second example, M displays difficulties in finding the right word
(line 9). She hesitates in formulating her turn. T helps her out (line 10) and
produces the correct form. M has pronounced and declined the correct word
in line 7, but due to a loud voice and overlapping with speaker S, she
displays uncertainty about the noun choice she has made. In line 9, she
begins with the cut-off word vaih-, then utters another cut-off word,
vaihtoehto ʔ (although, this could be interpreted as the nominative case of
the word, it is pronounced with a glottal stop at the end. Glottal stops or cutoff words are sounds that signal problems in clause formation. [Schegloff et
al. 1977]). Finally, she pronounces the word vaihtoa, ‘change’, which has
the same beginning as the compound noun vaihtoeht, ‘change’.
(42) MV 38. <01:34:41>
01
M:
02
S:
Kyllä se on
se on
kiinnostava asia.
Yes
3SG be.3SG 3SG be.3SG interesting thing
Yes it is a very interesting thing.
Se on
roska-a,
3SG be.3SG rubbish-PTV
It is rubbish,
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6 Word searches
03
M:
04
S:
05
T:
06
S:
07
M:
08
S:
09
M: →
10
T: →
11
M:
Mutta ihmiset katso-vat si-tä.
But
people watch-3PL 3SG-PTV
But people watch it.
Ihmiset ↑halua-vat si-tä.
People
want-3PL 3SG-PTV
People want it.
Miksi,
Why,
[LEIPÄ-Ä JA] sirkushuvi-a.
Bread-PTV and circus-PTV
Bread and circuses. ((from Latin: panem et circenses))
[Kaksi vaihto]ehto-a,
Two alternative-PTV
Two alternatives,
NiiYeaEi ole
vaih-- vaihtoehtoʔ vaihto-a,
NEG bg.3SG alt-- alternative change-PTV
There is no alt- alternative- change,
(1)
Vaihtoehto-a. ((tavuttaen))
Alternative-PTV
(There is no) alternative. ((syllabifying))
Vaihtoehto-a.
Alternative-PTV
Alternative.
M accepts T’s offer by repeating it. Word searches can be described as
those situations in which the speakers display hesitancy in their utteranceformulation and they indicate their difficulty in finding the relevant
linguistic items to convey the meaning so that it would be understood by
other speakers. Thus, the progressivity of the turn (and, hence, the
conversation) is halted due to speaker’s problems in formulating
(understandable) talk. These conditions of mutual understanding are not met
before the participants have found the relevant linguistic means to produce
intelligible talk. (Kurhila 2006: 91.)
In the following example, speaker V attempts to formulate an utterance
that contains a negation in the imperfect tense. This negation consists of a
negative verb ei and a participle. However, the speaker is not sure about the
participle form of the verb ymmärtää, ‘understand’. First, he produces the
negative verb at the beginning of his turn. He subsequently hesitates and
interrupts his turn. After the hesitation and interruption, he cut-offs the word
ymmär- and then produces a possible form, ymmärnyt, which contains the
beginning of the verb and the participle suffix -nyt. Despite the form being
incomplete, the co-participant, speaker L, can now formulate the correct
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6 Word searches
form of the verb and then correct V’s utterance. V repeats the word and then
formulates another utterance. That utterance does not have a hesitation
marker, question or reformulation, but L corrects the form Suomessa, ‘in
Finland’, into the grammatically appropriate form, Suomeen, ‘to Finland’.
Nonetheless, V does not accept this correction and repeats his own version,
Suomessa.
(43) FC 79. <01:11:59>
01
V: →
02
L: →
03
V:
04
L:
05
V:
E-n:
ö: (3) ymmär-- ymmär-nyt.
NEG-1SG VOC (3) under-- under-PCP
I did not under- undernd.
Ymmärtä-nyt.
Understand-PCP.
Understood.
Ymmärtä-nyt
ö: (2) milloin tule-e
↓Suome-ssa.
Understand-PCP VOC (2) when
come-3SG Finland-INE
Understood when comes in Finland.
Suome-en.
Finland-ILL
To Finland.
Suome-ssa.
Finland-INE
In Finland.
Thus, there are two corrections in this example. The first is initiated by
the current speaker in line 1. The recipient produces the correct form in her
utterance and this is accepted by the search initiator. The second correction
is initiated by the recipient and it is not accepted by the current speaker.
This type of rejection can be analysed in terms of the repair organisation
and the distinctions that are made by it. As mentioned before, Schegloff,
Jefferson and Sacks (1977: 363) made a distinction between correction and
repair. Correction is something one does in order to replace an erroneous
form by one that is correct. In this sense, correction represents a sub-group
of repair, which is a more general term. Concerning typical word-search
sequences, there are not erroneous forms, so producing the right form is not
a correction.
If this particular example is taken into account, it can be argued that the
first example was a self-initiation of a correction that led to an othercorrection. Since the current speaker had initiated the search of a
grammatically appropriate form and the correct form was introduced, he
accepted it and repeated it. The second case was not self-initiated, but it was
other-initiated and other-corrected. Since the current speaker did not
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6 Word searches
experience difficulties in producing the grammatically inappropriate form,
he did not think it was necessary to change the original form.
When examining the grammatical corrections that occur in the
conversation between natives and non-natives, Kurhila (2006:21, 31)
discovered that only the native speakers correct, but they do not make them
consistently. In most of the cases, the native speaker allows the error to pass
because “the current speaker is always an authorative source of knowledge
with respect to her own thoughts and experiences” (Kurhila 2006: 37). This
difference between the participants’ handling of grammatical issues can be
explained by how the different participants orient to the conversation. The
non-native speaker prefers to resolve the grammatical issues before moving
on. For the native speakers, the most important part is the interactional
aspect. They want to accomplish the exchange of turns so that it leads to
mutual understanding. (Ibid. 132–133.) However, if the conversational topic
of the conversation is more familiar to a non-native speaker, or if it is a part
of his or her expertise, the non-native speaker becomes a specialist (Orletti
2000: 283–284). A non-native speaker can also perceive himself or herself
as being competent, such as in work-related matters, but incompetent as a
language user (Vickers 2010: 125).
In non-native conversations, the situation is somewhat different. No one
can be said to have primary access to the knowledge of the spoken lingua
franca. However, this does not imply that there would not be grammatical
corrections. The correct grammatical form can be accomplished through
joint activity. The participants usually also know who is the most competent
in the spoken lingua franca and request assistance. When there are speakers
with a more rudimentary knowledge of the spoken lingua franca, they
usually ignore the errors and move on. On the other hand, when observing
fluency and how non-native speakers are perceived, the lack of an audience
or an actual interlocutor may cause perturbations and other signs that can be
interpreted as low-fluency (Ejzenberg 2000: 304).
In some of the cases, government phenomenon can also trigger the
construction of grammatically appropriate words or the participants can
negotiate the correctness of the utterances. This is understandable because
the construction is otherwise executed but it needs an object to be complete.
In other words, a speaker can begin a construction without actually knowing
how it can be executed. The recipient is therefore expected to produce the
completion. (Szczepek 2000b: 25.)
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6 Word searches
In the example that follows, M is telling his interlocutors about football,
which is his hobby. In line 1, he utters the word ihmise-t, ‘people-PL’, then
produces the form pela: with the lengthened final vowel, and subsequently
pauses and produces the right form pelaavat, ‘play-3PL’. Prosodically, the
above-mentioned elicited information can be accomplished specifically by
“lengthening on one or more of the vowels in the incomplete intonation
unit” (ibid. 25). A two-second pause the occurs before R adds the word
jalkapallo-a, ‘football-PRT’, in line 3. After the offered final component, M
takes the last word of the compound noun and declines it into a different
case, namely in the genitive: pallo-n, ‘ball-GEN’. After that, speaker B
wants to express his opinion about the correct declension and begins to
elaborate his own version. First, he produces the form pallo, ‘ball-NOM’,
and then produces the postpositional phrase pallon kanssa, ‘with a ball’
(literally ‘ball-GEN with’). Although R offered the grammatically
appropriate form in line 3, M accepts the form pallon kanssa in line 6 by
repeating it.
(44) FC 111. <08:25>
01
M:
02
03
R:
04
M:
05
B:
06
M:
Nyt ihmiset
pela-a
(.) pelaa-vat
Now people-PL play-3SG (.) play-3PL
Now people play
(2)
Jalkapallo-a.
Football-PRT.
Football.
Pallo-n.
Ball-GEN.
Football.
Pallo: p(h)allo-n kanssa.
Ball
ball-GEN
with
A ball with a ball.
<Pallo-n kanssa.>
Ball-GEN with
With a ball.
It is important to note that only the participants in the Finnish data- the
current speaker and the recipient- are both involved in grammatical
searches.
When considering the grammatical structures that occur in both
languages, it is evident that both languages have the same type of overall
structure. Traditionally thinking, both are Subject + Verb + Object (SVO)
languages and they both possess a moderate number of morphological
categories in declining nouns or in verbal morphology. However, the
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6 Word searches
presence or absence of grammatical searches exists. Although my goal is not
to offer external explanations for the instances that are presented in actual
conversations, the difference is significantly significant to be taken into
account.
From a cross-linguistic perspective, the difference is also interesting (cf.
Couper-Kuhlen & Selting 2001 on interactional linguistics). The difference
can perhaps be explained in terms of the different environments in which
languages had been learnt. As for the Finnish language, the lingua franca
speakers are usually adults who have learnt Finnish in different language
courses, which could imply that they orient to grammatical issues. These
speakers have usually also moved to Finland which means that Finnish had
not been a part of their life previously. The lingua franca speakers of the
Russian language have had different histories. In a certain sense, the Russian
material is versatile because it consists of both those who have learnt
Russian in their adult life and those who have always had Russian in their
lives. In other words, the differences between these two languages are
affected by the historical circumstances. Furthermore, while the lingua
franca speakers of Russian may have had a more native-speaker relation to
the language, they do not value grammatical appropriateness as being as
important as the lingua franca speakers of the Finnish language.
The concept of fluency can be used to explain the difference between
these two groups of language users. On the one hand, fluency is something
that seems to be easily described. If somebody is referred as a fluent speaker
of a foreign language, he or she is seen as using language as a near-native.
(Hüttner 2009: 274). Nevertheless, the methods used to measure or define
fluency differ from each other. Furthermore, the concept of fluency is
normally understood as an individual phenomenon. According to the
classification proposed by Fillmore (1979 [2000]: 51), the most important
aspect of fluency is the ability to fill time with talk. However, this ability
means that the discourse of fluent speakers is coherent and reasoned and it is
not filled with semantically empty material. The third and fourth type of
fluencies concern the creative language use in a wide range of contexts. This
means that a fluent speaker is able to communicate appropriately and
express his or her ideas in many ways.
Fillmore (1979 [2000]) emphasised that fluent speakers speak in
“semantically dense” (emphasis original) sentences. Thus, speakers who are
highly fluent can also use redundancy and repetition to avoid potential
breakdowns (Ejzenberg 2000: 299). On the other hand, the non-fluent
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6 Word searches
speakers in that study also often confronted problems in speech formation,
but when they formulated a usable phrase, they produced it many times
(ibid. 305–306). In short, fluent speakers incorporated more formulaic
chunks in their repertoire and they used them as fillers when they were
planning how to move forward (see also Wood 2006: 29, 30).
This orientation to fluency involves analysing fluency not just as an
individual phenomenon, but as being more dependent on interaction.
However, when analysing the concept of fluency from an interactive
perspective, the categories become more vague. The raters of Hüttner’s
study (2009) emphasized that all the speakers’ involvement, and therefore it
was considered to be ‘one conversation’. The raters also observed that the
speakers were “having a good time” (ibid. 288–289) and in their create a
sense of unity, the participants also used laughter.
6.2.2 The use of the spoken lingua franca
One possibility is that the current speaker verbalizes his or her search. In this
subchapter, these verbalized cases include the use of the spoken lingua
franca. There are many different ways of verbally initiating a word search.
For example, Helasvuo, Laakso and Sorjonen (2004: 7) reported four basic
construction types that occur in their aphasic data. These include a missing
element that can be a part of a noun phrase (semmonen/tämmönen/toi + X, ‘a
kind of/this kind of/that’ + X) or it can occur in a characterising construction
(se on + X, ‘it is + X’), in a locative construction (siellä on + X ,‘there is +
X’), or it can be a part of a question (mikä se on? – X ,‘what is it? – X’).
In NP constructions, a pronominal premodifier is produced. In Finnish,
these modifiers such as a tai/tuo, ‘that’, se, ‘that’, and semmonen, ‘this kind
of’. In Russian, čto èto takoe ‘what is this’ (Daragan 2003). These
pronominal modifiers are often combined with other search elements such as
pauses or search sounds (the Finnish ää, öö and creak; the Russian èè, ‘nonphonological length’) and these indicate a word search that should be
completed with the head noun (Helasvuo et al. 2004:9, Podlesskaja & Kibrik
2009: 178–179). What then follows from these pronominal premodifiers and
perturbations is that the syntax of the word-search sequences is often quite
fragmented (Helasvuo et al. 2004: 1). The speaker begins with one syntactic
construction, but when she or he is unable to find an appropriate word, the
construction remains incomplete and a new one is begun.
The pronominal modifier usually specifies that the missing element is a
noun (Helasvuo et al. 2004: 9). The next example features participants who
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6 Word searches
are attending an editorial meeting and discussing possible ways of
conducting an interview with people who are participating in a public event.
The event is called Maailma kylässä, ‘World Village Festival’, which is held
annually in Helsinki. This festival is renowned for its international
atmosphere and the high number of immigrants who participate in it. One
possibility that is suggested is that they would ask different people what they
eat for breakfast. M shares her idea of setting up a candid-camera situation.
She initiates her search in line 3 by producing a question with an
interrogative pronoun mikä se on, ‘what is it’ (Kurhila 2006: 100). In line 4,
T responds to her question with the word kopi, ‘booth’. M the repeats the
proposed word with a rising intonation in line 5.
(45) MV 51. <26:50>
01
M:
02
03
M: →
04
T: →
05
M:
06
A: →
07
T:
08
M:
09
10
11
T:
12
M:
On-ko
se hauska (.) jos me tee-mme (.) >jotenkin pila.<
Be.3SG-Q 3SG funny (.) if 1PL do-1PL (.) somehow prank
Is it funny if we make somehow a prank.
(1)
Kame:ra keske-llä .hh se on
me rakenta-mme jotakin
Camera middle-ADE .hh 3SG be.3SG 1PL build-1PL something
mis-- se on (.) >mikä se on.>
wher-- 3SG be.3SG what it be.3SG.
A camera in the middle it is we build something wher- is it
what is it.
Koppi.
Booth.
A booth.
↑Koppi.
Booth.
A booth.
Laatikko.
Box.
A box.
Tai laatikko.
Or box.
Or a box.
Keske-llä.
Middle-ADE.
In the middle.
Laita-mme siihen °kamera-n
ja suoraan,°
Put-PL3
there camera-GEN and straight
We put there a camera and straight,
(3)
Ekraani-lla jos ↑löyty-y,
Screen-ADE if
find-3SG
On a screen if available,
Ekraani-lla tai jotain,
Screen-ADE or something
On a screen or something,
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6 Word searches
For Speaker M, who initiated the word search, the proposed word is
sufficient. Speakers A and M elaborate on the search and suggest another
word, laatikko, ‘box’, but M continues her speech by describing the
surroundings for the whole candid camera idea.
In example 46, speaker A is telling about the procedures they had to
follow with his wife when she was pregnant. In lines 5–6, he recounts that
he asked for permission to film an ultra-sound procedure, but that he was not
granted it. At this particular point, no reference had been made to the person
who turned down his request. In line 7, speaker K suggests that it was a
doctor, which is first accepted by the original speaker, but then at the end of
line 8, he begins to hesitate that perhaps it was some other person. In line 9,
T suggests that it was a nurse. The suggestion is accepted by the original
speaker. It can be said that the participants are jointly attempting to find the
right word. Although Speaker K’s suggestion was incorrect, it belongs to the
same semantic field as the appropriate word (on semantic contiguity, for
example, see Kurhila 2006: 116 and subsection 6.3.2).
(46) MV 56. <25:37>
01
A:
02
M:
03
A:
04
?:
05
A:
06
A:
07
K:
08
A: →
09
T: →
Mä ker-- kerran ot-i-n
kame:ra (.),
1SG on-- once
take-PST-1SG camera (.)
I once took a camera,
Joo.
Yeah.
Se ol-i
↑ultraääni.
3SG be-PST.3SG ultra:sound.
It was an ultrasound.
Joo.
Yeah.
Mä hal-- halus-i-n
kuva-ta
mutta sano-i .hh
1SG wa-- want-PST-1SG shoot-INF but
say-3SG .hh
ei
saa kuva-ta.
NEG.3SG allow shoot-INF.
I wanted to shoot, but they said that it is not allowed.
Kys-- kysy-i-n
miksi se ei:
Ask-- ask-PST-1SG why
3SG NEG.3SG
I asked why it is not
Lääkä↑ri:.
Doctor.
Se: ol-i ((caughs)) (.) kyllä ol-i
lääkäri tai se
3SG be-PST.3SG
(.) yes
be-PST.3SG doctor or 3SG
mi-tä
se ol-i,
what-PTV 3SG be-PST.3SG
It was yes it was a doctor or it what it was,
Sairaanhoitaja.
Nurse
A nurse.
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6 Word searches
10
A:
Sairaanhoitaja.
Nurse
A nurse.
Although the search in the previous example indicated that the missing
element was a noun, there are other cases that arise as well. My data contain
examples of a speaker searching for an infinitive form of a verb as a part of
the structure. The participants of the following excerpt are the same as in the
previous search, with M proposing another idea of showing pictures to the
interviewees and asking them to describe what they see.
(47) MV 42. <01:09:11>
01
M:
02
03
→
04
T: →
05
M:
Mu-n
m-- minu-n miele-stä se: tarko-- se pääasia
1SG-GEN m-- 1SG-GEN mind-ELA 3SG mea-3SG main:thing
ei
vain mi-tä
↑hän sano-o.
NEG only what-PTV he
say-3SG
I think in my opinion it mean- it is a main thing not just
only what he says.
Me <tunne-mme me> .hh tiedä-mme jotakin
mi-tä
hän
1PL know-1PL 1PL .hh know-1PL something what-PTV 3SG
voi
sano-a.
can.3SG say-INF
We know we know something what he may say.
Mu-n
.hh miele-stä pitä
otta-a
↑semmonen kuva
1SG-GEN .hh mind-ELA have.to.3SG take-INF such
picture
ei
tarvi ö: nu tut-- ö: mikä se on,
NEG.3SG need VOC PRT res-- VOC what 3SG be.3SG
I think we have to take that kind of picture which need not
to what is it,
Kään[tä-ä.
Translate-INF
to translate.
[Kääntä-ä.
Translate-INF
to translate.
It is also possible to formulate words that somehow resemble the actual
words in Finnish or in Russian. However, those cases are rather uncommon.
By actual words, I refer to those words that have Finnish or Russian stems
and suffixes, but they are not really words that exist (for more on what is
called foreignizing, see Færch & Kasper 1983a: 47). With reference to
Finnish and Russian, those words can be called Fennicized or Russified
words (for example, see Kurhila 2006: 111–16 for Fennicized words). In the
following example, N wants to know whether her interlocutor has siblings.
She invents a word that bears some resemblance to a Finnish word. In line 1,
she produces the word siskoruksia (in the singular siskorus, which could be
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6 Word searches
interpreted as consisting of one noun sisko, ‘sister’, and the suffix –rus,
which is familiar from the noun sisarus, ‘sibling’. That is also the word that
L produces in line 2 and N subsequently repeats it in line 3.
(48) FC 71. <01:35:35>
01
N: →
02
L: →
03
N:
↑Liina on-ko:
sinu-lla ö
↑siskoruks-i-a. ((laughter))
Liina be.3SG-Q 2SG-ADE VOC sibiling-PL-PTV
Liina do you have sibilings.
Sisaruks-i-a.
Sibling-PL-PTV
Siblings.
Sisaruks-i-a
↑joo.
Sibling-PL-PTV yeah.
Siblings yeah.
04 L:
Yks minu-lla on
yksi sisko.
One 1SG-ADE be.3SG one sister
I have one sister.
Other cases are also possible. In the example that follows (46), the
participants work together to define the meaning of the word sarjakuva,
which means a ‘comic strip’. For animated films, there is another word,
namely piirroselokuva or animaatioelokuva. In line 2, E begins to define the
word and tries to determine whether a comic strip is something that could be
watched on television. After a pause, C elaborates on the search by guessing
that sarjakuva could resemble a cartoon in English. Following his own
suggestion, C continues by stating that a sarjakuva can occur in a
newspaper. E’s response to this is ai jaa, which could be interpreted as a
sign that E responds to the offer as if it were news to her. (Sorjonen 1999:
175–176, VISK § 799.) After the evaluation, J continues the actual search
and produces an interesting word. She takes the word ‘cartoon’ and
fennicizes it in line 9. Speaker C pronounces the word in English in line 4,
but in this case, J uses the word and adjusts it to the Finnish system. At the
end of the word, there is a final vowel –i, which is also used in borrowed
words from foreign languages and is adjusted to the Finnish system.
(Kurhila 2006:111–117.)
(49) CC 23. <01:19/2>
01
02
E:
Sarja↓kuv-i-ssa.
Cartoon-PL-INE
In cartoons.
(2)
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6 Word searches
03
E: →
05
06
C: →
07
08
C:
09
J:
10
E:
11
J: →
12
E:
13
C:
14
J:
15
C:
16
J:
17
C:
18
J:
19
C:
On-ko
tämä niin kuin teevee-ssä
<tai mikä on
Be.3SG-Q this so
like television-INE or what be.3SG
sarjakuva.>
cartoon
Is this like in TV or what is a cartoon.
(1)
On-ko
sarjakuva kuin niin ö: mt car↑toon.
Be.3SG-Q cartoon
like so
VOC VOC cartoon
Is sarjakuva like a cartoon.
(1)
On-ko:
esimerki-ksi ö
sanomalehde-ssä,
Be.3SG-Q example-TRANS VOC newspaper-INE
Is for example in a newspaper,
Mhy.
Uhhuh.
°Ai jaa.°
Oh yeah.
Kartuuni ↑joo.
Kartuuni yeah.
Okei.
Okay.
>On-ko
se< on-ko tämä (1) sarjakuva.
Be.3SG-Q 3SG be.3SG-Q this (1) cartoon
Is it is this a cartoon.
Sarja-- sarjakuv-i-ssa ↑joo.
Cart-- cartoon-PL-INE y eah
Cart- in cartoons yeah.
↑Sarjakuva on
↓lehde-ssä.
Cartoon
be.3SG newspaper-INE
A cartoon is in a newspaper.
°Mhy.°
Uhhuh.
Ei-k-s
↓niin.
NEG.3SG-Q-CLI so.
Isn’t it.
Minä ymmärs-i-n
joo.
1SG understand-PST-1SG yeah
I understood yeah.
Joo.
Yeah.
In this excerpt, the speakers experience uncertainty regarding the Finnish
word, concerning whether a comic strip can be seen on television. At this
point, the English equivalent is offered, which is then reformulated into a
possible Finnish word. After this elaboration, C shows a newspaper and asks
whether it contains a comic strip. In line 13, he states that a comic strip is in
the newspaper and asks for a confirmation in line 15 by saying eiks niin,
‘right?’ J confirms this assumption in line 16. Speaker E, who initiated the
word search, does not participate on the final evaluation process.
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6 Word searches
The next example (50) in Russian somehow resembles the previous case.
Three speakers are participating in this excerpt. Speaker H is talking about
his grandfather who used to make oxcarts for the Aghul people in the
Caucasus. In line 3, he states that because there no roads, there were also no
large motor vehicles. He attempts to create another name for the carts and
produces the question in Russian of nu èto kak èto nazyvaetsja, ‘well how do
you called it’, in line 4. In line 5, speaker M produces the correct word,
telegi, ‘carts’. However, P produces a word that is possibly Russian in line 6,
pelegi. The initiator of the word search approves of the word that is offered
by M and repeats it.
(50) DM 50. <13:27>
01
H:
02
03
04
→
05
M: →
06
P:
07
H:
U
↑nas
deduska
by-l-ø
Abd- >e-go
zva-l-i<
PRE 1PL.GEN grandfather be-PST-MASC Abd- 3SG-GEN call-PSTPL
Abdul Aziz.
Abdul Aziz
We had a grandfather he was called Abdul Aziz.
On poni↑ma-ete
èto-t
dela-l-ø
èto-t
He understand-2PL 3SG-MASC do-PST-MASC 3SG-MASC
arb-y
↑dlja agul’c-ev.
oxcart-PL PRE Agul-PL.GEN
He you understand did those oxcarts to Agul people.
U
↑ni-h
dorog-i ne by-l-o
da tak-ie bol’š-ie
PRE 3PL-GEN road-PL NEG be-PST-NEU PRT such-PL big-PL
samohodn-y.
motorized:vehichle-PL
They did not have roads yes those big motorized vehicles.
Nu
èt-o
>kak kak< èt-o
nazyva-et-sja.
Well 3SG-NEU how how 3SG-NEU call-3SG-REFL
Well how it is called.
Teleg-i.
Cart-PL.
Carts.
Pe↓leg-i da èt-i,
Peleg-PL yes it-PL
Pelegi yes they.
Teleg-i dela-l-ø.
Cart-PL do-PST-NEU
Carts did.
6.2.3 Loan word examples
To solve the search sequence, the participants in the previous examples did
not change the language being used even though it is possible to use
languages other than the spoken lingua franca (for example, see Kurhila
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6 Word searches
2006: 105). For these types of examples, some elements of Finnish or
Russian might occur while the search sequence might be initiated in Finnish
or Russian but with the searched word being pronounced in another
language. The searched word is therefore present in the conversation but in
the ‘wrong’ language, and the current speaker wants to make him- or herself
clear and to find the appropriate word.
In communication involving foreign languages, there is always the
possibility of switching from L2 to either L1 or to another foreign language.
Language changes may involve varying stretches of discourse from a single
word to complete turns. (Færch & Kasper 1983a: 46.) Using other languages
also constitutes a specific type of ‘communication strategies’, which are also
known as achievement strategies (ibid. 36–37, 45–53). An achievement
strategy refers to learners attempting to solve problems in communication by
expanding their communicative resources rather than by reducing their
communicative goal. Achievement strategies may also be called
compensatory strategies because they aim at solving problems in the
planning phase that are caused by insufficient linguistic resources. (Ibid. 46.)
Communication strategies may be defined in a variety of different ways,
but the main classification is based on how the roles of the interactants of a
conversation are seen to be formed. On the one hand, the term can refer to
the mutual attempt by two interlocutors to agree on a meaning in situations
where requisite meaning structures do not seem to be shared (Tarone 1983:
65). On the other hand, communication strategies can also be defined as
potentially conscious plans for solving a problem in reaching a particular
communicative goal (Færch & Kasper 1983b: 212). Færch and Kasper
(1983a: 50–51) emphasise the role of the participant who has problems in
reaching a communicative goal. While they admit that problems in
interaction can be solved by mutual efforts, it is the interactant facing the
problems who has the opportunity to decide whether to use a specific
psycholinguistic strategy. He or she can also signal the problem to the other
interlocutor and can attempt to solve the problem in collaboration.
Færch & Kasper (1983a: 36–37) divide communication strategies into
two major types, reduction strategies and achievement strategies. Reduction
strategies, which are governed by avoidance behaviour, include both formal
reduction strategies and functional reduction strategies. Formal reduction
strategies refer to situations in which a speaker wants to avoid producing
non-fluent or incorrect utterances and decides instead to communicate by
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6 Word searches
means of a ‘reduced’ system, focussing on stable rules and items that have
become reasonably well automatised (ibid. 38–43).
Functional reduction strategies, in contrast, refer to cases in which
learners experience problems in either the planning phase (due to
insufficient linguistic resources) or in the execution phase (retrieval
problems), and their behaviour is based on avoidance rather than
achievement. By adopting a functional reduction strategy the learner
‘reduces’ his or her communicative goal in order to avoid the problem. (Ibid.
43–44.)
In L2-research, communication strategies are usually seen as a tool that
L2-speakers use to solve problems in speaking (Færch & Kasper 1983a: 31–
35, 1983b). The theory focusses on the decisions by individual speakers,
leaving the interactional aspect of these strategies more or less unanalysed
(cf. Kurhila 2006: 94, Tarone 1983).
In the example that follows (51), speaker B encounters problems in line
1. He cannot remember the Finnish equivalent for the word ‘cousin’. He
initiates his search by verbalising that he cannot remember the word in
Finnish. He produces the correct word in English and L then translates it
into Finnish as serkku, ‘cousin’. In line 3, B confirms the appropriateness of
the word and repeats it.
(51) FC 104. <13:15>
01
B: →
02
R:
03
L →
04
B:
05
B:
Ja sam- sunnuntai-na >minä minä< mene-n ↑Herttonieme-en
And VOC Sunday-ESS
1SG 1SG
go-1SG Herttoniemi-ILL
koska
häne-llä ↑opettaja mikä se on
because 3SG-ADE
teacher what 3SG be.3SG
minä ei: muista
ö
cousin.
1SG NEG remember VOC cousin.
And on Sunday I will go to Herttoniemi because he has
teacher what is it I do not remember cousin.
No
mutta opettaja nyt on
↑tauko.
Well but
teacher now be.3SG break
Well but teacher now is a break.
Serkku.
Cousin.
A cousin.
Serkku hän ensimmäinen serku:-t
se on
iso juhla:
Cousin 3SG first
cousin-PL 3SG be.3SG big party
juhla: >joulujuhla.<
party
Christmas:party
He is a first cousin. It is a big party party Christmas
party.
Kaikki: on
punaise-en (.) paita: ja pipo:.
All
be.3SG red-ILL
(.) blouse and cap
Everyone is in red a blouse and a cap.
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6 Word searches
The mixture of different languages can also be indicative of word
searches. In the next example, speaker R attempts to form a Finnish
compound noun with the English word medium and the Finnish word aika,
‘time’, meaning the average time it takes for an ambulance to arrive at the
scene of an accident. In line 2, speaker L produces the actual Finnish word
keskiaika, ‘average time’ 30.
(52) FC 62. <31:14>
01
R: →
02
L: →
03
B:
04
L:
05
R:
06
L:
No
tämä on
medi-- tämä on
>medium ö: kesken<
Well this be.3SG medi-- this be.3SG medium VOC uncompelete
↑ik-- aika.
VOC time
Well this is medium uncomplete time.
Keskiaika.
Average:time.
Noin.
About.
Kaksi,
Two,
Kaksi↓kymmentä minuutti-a.
Twenty
minute-PTV
Twenty minutes.
Joo joo joo.
Yeah yeah yeah.
Another possibility is to use a foreign language that not all the
participants are familiar with. The following example features speaker M
telling the others about an old Soviet film in which a Soviet spy gives birth
in Germany. M and T both speak the same native language, Russian. This
example consists of a two-word search sequence. The first search is selfinitiated and self-repaired by the current speaker. In line 3, she produces the
initiation kak skazat’ kričat’, ‘how to say kričat’, accelerating her speech.
She finds the appropriate word on her own and produces it in a load voice,
HUUtaa, ‘scream’. In line 8, she is having difficulties in finding an
appropriate Finnish word and as a consequence, she initiates the search in
Russian. First, she begins to produce the Russian word špio-, which means
spy. Then she decides to use another Russian word razvedčik, ‘scout’. The
completion of that search consists of two parts. First, T begins with the word
valokuvaa-, ‘photograp-’, but then she suggests another word, vakooja,
meaning ‘spy’. The two words begin with same two sounds. S produces yet
30
The Finnish word keskiaika could also be translated into English as ‘the Middle Ages’, but that
interpretation is not possible in this context.
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6 Word searches
another word, vakoilija, which is synonymous with vakooja. M then repeats
both words and confirms their acceptability.
(53) MV 57. <23:56>
01
M:
02
03
M:
04
05
06
07
08
→
09 T:
10 S:
11 M: →
12
13
Jok-- joka tapaukse-ssa synnytys ja nainen ö:
Eve-- every case-INE
birth
and woman VOC
In in every case a birth and a woman
(1)
>kak skazat’ kričat’<
>How to say kričat’<
HUUta-a
(.) oma kiele-llä
Scream-INF (.) own language-ADE
Screams in her own language
Minä muista-n
↑elävä kuva saksa-n
ö: aika-na
1SG remember-1SG
live film German-GEN VOC time-ESS
sotilaa-n
aika
soldier-GEN time
I remember a film in the German times
.h he ajattel-i-vat että hän on
↑saksalainen
.h 3PL think-PST-3PL that 3SG be.3SG German
They thought that she is German.
Mutta ö
hän on
ö: venäläinen
But
VOC 3SG be.3SG VOC Russian
But she is Russian.
Mikä se on
špio-- ö: ö
razvedčik
What 3SG be.3SG sp-VOC VOC scout.
What is it špio- razvedčik.
Valokuvaa-- voi ei kun ö
[vakooja]
Photograp-- oh NEG but VOC spy
A photograp- oh no I mean spy.
[vakoilija]
[spy
vakooja
Spy.
Vakoilija mutta kun hän synty-i lapsi
Spy
but
when 3SG bore-PST.3SG child
Vakoilija but when she bore a child
Hän sano-o .hh äiti
venäjä-n
kiele-llä ma:ma:
3SG say-3SG .hh mother Russian-GEN language-ADE mother
s/he ((the child)) says in Russian mu:m.
((laughter))
As I mentioned previously while introducing the material, the Finnish
data consist of both Russian native speakers and those who have learnt
Russian at school. However, usually only the Russian native speakers use
Russian in their word searches and they predominantly use it when they can
perform the search with other native speakers (for example, Mondada 2004:
31–34). The following example constitutes one of the rare cases of a native
130
6 Word searches
and non-native Russian speaker using Russian when conversing in Finnish. J
and L are native Russian speakers, and A’s mother tongue is Lithuanian.
(54) CC 31. <17:01/2>
01
J: →
02
L: →
03
J:
04
A: →
05
06
07
A:
08
L:
A:
Čto tak-oj
huhu
ili šušu ili čto tak-oj
↑spletnja.
What such-MASC rumour or šušu or what such-MASC rumour
What is that rumour or šušu or what is rumour.
Hu↑hu-j-a.
Rumour-PL-PTV.
Rumours.
>Huhu huhu.<
Rumour rumour.
Huhu on
spletnja on
huhu.
Huhu be.3SG spletnja be.3SG huhu
Huhu is spletnja is rumour.
Juratik.
(1)
Huhu on
↑toinen sana.
Huhu be.3SG another word.
Huhu is another word.
Juoru-j-a
↑ja ↓huhu-j-a.
Gossip-PL-PTV and rumours-PL-PTV
Gossips and rumours.
In this example, J initiates her search in Russian by stating čto takoj,
‘what’s such’, and then continues in Finnish by saying huhu, ‘rumour’. She
completes her search initiation by also producing the same question in
Russian: čto takoi spletnja, ‘what’s such gossip’. In Russian, she uses the
word spletnja, which means ‘gossip’; the correct Russian equivalent for the
word huhu would be sluh. Semantically, these words are rather close. In line
4, speaker A translates the word huhu into Russian as spletnja. She then
addresses speaker J, Juratik, who initiated the word search, and requests
confirmation. After a pause, A begins to hesitate and rethinks her offer in
line 7 as huhu on toinen sana, ‘a gossip is another word’. In line 8, another
native Russian speaker, L, confirms that the words are almost synonyms.
In the next example, speaker S produces the word that she does not recall
in Finnish, soveltaa, ‘apply’. The infinitive form of the Finnish verb is
connected to the Russian finite verb of načinaet, ‘begins’, without pauses or
other hesitations. After producing the missing word in Finnish, speaker S
clarifies that she does not know the word in Russian. In line 3, an unknown
speaker begins by offering the word podnjat’, ‘raise’. The person initiating
that search wants to check the suggested word and produces the word kak,
‘how’, in line 4. Since the suggested word was not correct, speaker K
produces instead the beginning of the word prikla-, ‘app-’, in line 5. This is
131
6 Word searches
sufficient for the original speaker, who first cuts off the appropriate word
and then pronounces the whole word. For her purposes, the incomplete
infinite form made the search complete.
(55) UM 39. <02:02:58>
01
S:
→
02
03
?:
04
S:
05
K: →
06
S:
A
potom é ja uči-l-as’
v: (-) universitet-e
But then VOC 1SG study-PST-FEM PRE (-) university-PREP
psihologi-i,
psychology-GEN
But then I studied psychology at the university,
No >pedagog učitel’< pedagog če-mu
by on ni
But pedagog teacher pedagog what-DAT PRT 3SG NEG
u↑či-l-ø-sja
vsë ravn-o
načina-et soveltaa
study-PST-MASC-PRT all same-ADV begin-3SG soveltaa
vot >kak ne zna-ju
kak po-rus-sk-i
skaza-t’,<
well how NEG know-1SG how PRE-Russian-ADJ-ADV say-INF
But a pedadog and a teacher no matter whatever he teaches
all the same begins to soveltaa well I do know not how to
say it in Russian,
Podnja-t’.
Raise-INF
To raise.
Kak.
How.
Prikla-App->Prik--< prikladyva-t’ ↑vs-ë
vsë
čto iz
App-apply-INF
all-NEU all-NEU what PRE
kako-go-to
drug-oj
oblast-i sfer-y
what-GEN-CLI another-GEN.FEM area-GEN sphere-GEN
è
nahod-it da prikladyva-t’ v
svo-↓ej
sfer-↓e
VOC find-3SG yes apply-INF
PRE own-PREP.FEM sphere-PREP
prepodavani-ja.
teaching-GEN.
Apply all from another sphere and area and find yes apply to
his or her own teaching sphere.
When stepping outside the spoken lingua franca, the initiator of the wordsearch sequence needs to have prior knowledge of the other speakers’
language skills. Among friends and peers in informal settings, this type of
strategy can be effective and suitable, but among co-workers or in
institutional settings (in meetings, etc.), it requires careful consideration. On
the one hand, the resources of other languages are made available by using
them in conversation. Thus, a loan word search can speed up the search
sequence. On the other hand, loan words may exclude some of the
participants from the conversation. However, in my data, this is not the case.
Participants use other languages besides the spoken lingua franca because
132
6 Word searches
they know that the other participants are multilingual speakers and therefore
the search sequence can be resolved effectively.
The traditional argument is that bilingual or multilingual speakers are
able to use two or more languages during the same turn. This conversational
code switching can be defined as juxtaposing speech passages that belong to
two different grammatical systems or subsystems within the same verbal
exchange. 31 Most frequently an alternation takes the form of two subsequent
sentences, as when a speaker uses a second language either to reiterate his or
her message, or to reply to someone else’s statement. (Gumperz 1982: 59.)
This code switching can be accomplished through joint activity, and code
switching itself does not necessarily imply that the bilingual or multilingual
speaker is not sufficiently competent in the grammatical system of the
language being used (Gumperz 1982: 64, see also Færch & Kasper 1983a:
46, Jenkins 2011: 928, Thomason 2001: 129-136). Cogo (2009: 268) points
out the following:
In conclusion, contrary to the assumption that code-switching is evidence of
linguistic deficiency in bilingual or multilingual speakers, the data analysis
suggests that code-switching is used as an additional resource to achieve particular
conversational goals in interactions with other intercultural speakers.
Some researchers envision language alternation as being a hyperonym
that covers both code switching and transfer (for example, Auer 1988).
Transfer refers to those cases in which the language alternation is connected
to a particular conversational structure such as a word, or a sentence. Code
switching refers to the language alternation that is connected to a particular
point in conversation (Auer 1988: 192). Auer argues that (ibid. 192–193) the
participants of a bilingual conversation face two types of tasks, and Auer
refers to these as ‘problems’. First, if two or more languages are being used
in conversation, then the participants need to decide which language to
speak. Second, in order to cope with the problems that are caused by the
actual conversation, such as turn-taking, participants must to be able to solve
them. Toward this end, the use of two or more languages may assist in
conquering these problems.
In general, this language alternation can be part of the participants’
cultural and social identity. As a consequence, code switching is not used to
compensate for some linguistic deficiency; on the contrary, code switching
can be a strategy that signals solidarity and membership. In these cases, the
31
In these cases, the speaker is considered to have access to both the systems of the subsystems. If the
speaker uses language that is not considered to be a part of his or her repertoire, the term ‘language
crossing’ is used for these instances (Rampton 1998: 291).
133
6 Word searches
community is multilingual so that the participants ‘can code switch into a
third language which is none of the speakers’ mother tongues’. (Cogo 2009:
269.)
In the following excerpt, O is recounting that she eats porridge and that
she likes it to be salted (lines 2–3), but after that she encounters problems in
describing the type of porridge that her husband prefers. M helps her in line
5 and suggests the word makea, ‘sweet’. In line 7, T poses a clarifying
question concerning whether the porridge they are talking about is oatmeal
porridge, and repeats the question in line 8. At this point, to facilitate the
word search, O uses a Russian word, ovsjanka, ‘oatmeal porridge’, to
describe the porridge. T translates that word into Finnish and O
subsequently repeats the translation (cf. Kurhila 2006: 113). All the
participants in this excerpt are Russian. For them, using Russian language is
a way to expedite the search and to return to the actual conversation being
held in Finnish.
(56) MV 48. <45:22>
01
O:
02
03
04
M:
05
O:
06
T:
07
08
O: →
09
T: →
10
O:
Minä (.) syö-n
puuro-a,
1SG
eat-1SG porrige-PTV
I eat porridge,
Mutta minä: ehh pidä-n
ö
↑suolapuuro-sta
But
1SG
VOC like-1SG VOC salt:porrige-ELA
But I h like eh salted porridge.
A: mi↑nu-n miehe-ni
pidä
ehh
VOC 1SG-GEN husband-PX like.3SG VOC
My husband like eh
Ma↓kea.
Sweet.
Makea joo.
Sweet yeah.
Mutta ↑kaurapuuro,
But
oatmeal:porridge.
Kaurapuuro
tai mikä ↑puuro,
Oatmeal:porridge or what porridge,
°Ov↓sjanka.°
Ovsjanka ((oatmeal porridge))
Ovsjanka ↑kaurapuuro.
Ovsjanka oatmeal:porridge.
Kaur↓apuuro.
Oatmeal:porridge.
As we have seen in the previous example, loan words are not regarded as
the final resolution of a search; rather, they are considered to be a means of
finding the resolution (ibid. 111). These strategies of interlingual transfer
134
6 Word searches
result from a combination of different linguistic features from the IL and the
L1 or from other languages (Færch & Kasper 1983a: 46).
The difference between loan words and foreignised words is determined
by their usage. For loan words, speakers utilises the resources from other
languages. They know the word in the other language and they present it as
a possible resolution to the problem. The ‘foreignised’ word search
sequences involve speakers trying to resolve the search combining resources
from the languages that are present in the interaction. (cf. Kurhila 2006:
112–113). Both of these strategies are dynamic. Kurhila (ibid. 116) also
observes that producing foreignised (for example, Fennicised) words
requires a relatively good knowledge of the structure of the language being
used.
6.3 Actual resolving of the search
6.3.1 Direct offer, one word
At the focus of this study are the type of word-search sequences that are
initiated and resolved by two (or more) speakers. In terms of repair
organisation, those sequences consist of the self and the other. The sought
after word is usually offered and after that offer, the initiator of the search
can evaluate its appropriateness. It is also possible that the search sequence
is prolonged. In the previous chapter, I examined how word-search
sequences are initiated, and made the interesting observation that whether
the initiation is done nonverbally (by pausing, etc.) or with words (using the
spoken lingua franca or other languages), the resolution is usually just one
word. After the sought word is produced, the search initiator can evaluate
the word and move on.
When the sequential context of the search sequence is considered, it can
be argued that the search often occurs near the end of the unit. If this
observation is then associated with collaborative productions, this provides a
place for the co-participant to complete the unit in progress. (Lerner 1996:
261–263.) However, the turn prior to the completion is often fragmented.
The course of the turn is affected by pauses, hesitations and other markers of
uncertainty in turn-formation.
In the first example, E is searching for a word and accompanies her turn
with two pauses and a hesitation. The first pause is a micropause and the
second is longer. After the second pause and a hesitation sound, J offers the
word pelätä, ‘be scared’.
135
6 Word searches
(57) CC 15. <35:35/1>
01
E:
02
J:
03
E:
04
J:
05
C:
Sit↓ten (.) hän halua-a (2) ö:,
Then
(.) 3SG want-3SG (2) VOC
Then he wants to,
↑Pelä-tä,
Be:afraid:of-INF
Be afraid of.
Joo,
Yeah,
Hän halua-a pelä-ä,
3SG want-3SG be:afraid:of-INF
He wants to be afraid,
°Joo joo.°
Yeah yeah.
Syntactically, E has formulated her turn so that it indicates to J what the
searched word is. The verb haluta, ‘to want’, requires an object in the form
of an infinitive phrase (called the A-infinitive; VISK § 469). E accepts the
suggested word with the response particle joo, ‘yeah’.
If the word that is being searched for is produced by resorting to using
another language, usually the offer is only one word. This means that the
next speaker translates that word into Finnish. In the following example, the
participants are talking about telling jokes and how difficult it is. In lines 1–
2, J begins to describe her own attitude towards jokes and explains that she
usually only listens because she cannot tell jokes herself. She subsequently
continues that perhaps the reason for not knowing how to tell jokes is that
one needs to possess some special quality. In line 4, she produces the
utterance minä luulen se tarvitse, ‘I think it needs’, which could be
interpreted as the current speaker expressing a personal belief of what one
needs to have in order to be a good joke teller (cf. Baumgarten & House
2010: 1191–1192). After expressing her belief, she pauses for two seconds
and begins to search for the correct word in English by saying ‘how to say it
English I don’t know’. The English utterance is produced in a quiet voice,
indicating that it is oriented towards the speaker herself (for instance, see
Baumgarten & House 2010: 1196). After another long pause, she finds the
possible English word as ‘experience maybe’. In line 8, E translates the
English word into the Finnish word kokemus. J’s turn in line 4 has a specific
syntactic structure in formation that she alone completes in line 9 when she
uses the partitive case of the suggested word and then produces the whole
construction once more as se tarvitsee kokemusta, ‘it needs experience’.
136
6 Word searches
(58) CC 16. <36:37/1>
01
J:
02
03
C:
04
J: →
05
06
07
08
09
J:
E: →
J:
Mutta ↑itse
minä e-n
osaa kerto
↓vitse-j-ä.
But
myself 1SG NEG-1SG know tell.INF joke-PL-PTV
But I myself I do not how to tell jokes.
Minä on
aina
vain kuuntele (-).
1SG be.3SG always only listen (-)
I always just listen.
Joo.
Yeah.
Kun se on
(.) minä luule-n
se tarvitse (2) e:
When 3SG be.3SG (.) 1SG think-1SG 3SG need.3SG (2) VOC
how to say it in ºEnglish I don’t know.º
When it is I think it needs how to say it in ºEnglish I
don’t know.º
(3)
Experience maybe.
(2)
Kokemus.
Experience.
↑Kokemus-ta
se tarvitse-e kokemus-ta.
Experience-PTV 3SG need-3SG
experience-PTV
Experience it needs experience.
The search initiation in these examples was complex either because it
consisted of multiple pauses and hesitations, or because it was produced in a
language other than the spoken lingua franca. However, the actual offer was
merely one word and it was offered without any specific guess markers. As
the first example indicates, the form of the search initiation can predict the
form of the searched word.
If the word search is initiated by either using another language or by
guessing, the participants may discontinue the current discussion and create
a side sequence, meaning that the word search becomes the focus of the
interaction (Jefferson 1987: 88, Kurhila 2006: 39). This type of side
sequence can be called exposed correction (Jefferson 1987). A conclusion is
needed in order for the conversation to move forward. The pattern [A: X, B:
Y, A: Y] is found when the correction is accepted, and [A: X, B: Y, A: X] if
it is rejected. (Jefferson 1987: 88.) It is also possible that the correction is
embedded, which means that it is not the interactional business that the
participants are engaged in (ibid. 95). Search can also be divided into
immediate and delayed contributions (Lerner 1996: 262). Lerner (ibid.)
continues as follows:
Many word search candidates are held off or delayed, giving the current speaker
an opportunity to self-repair and when a candidate is finally produced it is
regularly designed as a confirmable – ‘try-marked’ – guess. In contrast, recipient
contributions initiated at the beginning of a search – i.e. immediately after the
onset of the search – are ordinarily not produced as guesses.
137
6 Word searches
6.3.2 Prolonged search sequences
Although word searches are usually resolved quickly and with only one
word, it is also possible for the search to prolong. In this chapter, I attempt
to analyse why this occurs. One might think that the prolonging of a word
search is due to insufficient knowledge of the language being used, and
perhaps in some cases this is true. When non-native speakers attempt to
resolve a search concerning grammatical issues, the possibility exists that
the search will be prolonged. Some participants may have better knowledge
of inflection or case endings but it is also possible that all participants are in
equal position.
In the following example, C begins his search for the correct word form
by introducing two possible forms that have come to his mind. Later in the
sequence, it becomes obvious that he is searching the participle of the verb
kuulla, ‘to hear’. This verb resembles another verb kuulua which can be
translated into English with several words such as ‘be heard,’ be audible,’ or
‘to belong’. The two verbs, kuulla and kuulua, are inflected differently but
the difference is not very drastic. The participle of the verb kuulla is kuullut
and the participle of kuulua is kuulunut.
After C has produced both alternatives, E and J continue the search
sequence by confirming both of them in lines 2 and 3. J checks the form by
producing the English equivalent of ‘I have heard’. In line 4, E repeats her
own offer, but after hearing the English translation, C accepts J’s suggestion.
The repairs or corrections focus on the morphological or
morphophonological level of the utterance. As the participants are nonnative speakers, it is possible that although their pronunciations may differ,
none of them is willing to correct the speech of the others on the phonetic
level. (Cf., e.g. Brouwer 2004: 93.)
(59) CC 32. <17:09/2>
01
C:
02
→
03
E: →
Joo minä ((coughs)) (.) ole-n kuul-lut (.) ↑kuulu-nut
Yeah 1SG
(.) be-1SG hear-PCP (.) belong-PCP
kuu--,
hea-Yeah I have heard belonged,
>On-ko
se> on-ko
se: ole-n kuul-lut vai ↑ole-n
Be.3SG-Q 3SG be.3SG-Q 3SG be-1SG hear-PCP or
be-1SG
kuulu-nut tai,
belong-PCP or
Is it is it I have heard or I have belonged or,
Ole-n kuulu-nut.
Be-1SG belong-PCP.
I have belonged.
138
6 Word searches
04
J: →
05
E:
06
C: →
07
J:
08
C:
Ole-n kuul-lut (.) I have heard.
Be-1SG hear-PCP
I have heard.
I have heard ((same in English)).
Ole-n ↓kuulu-nut.
Be-1SG belong-PCP.
I have belonged.
O↑kei (.) .hh ole-n kuul-lut .hh yks(h)i joka on
Okei (.) .hh be-1SG hear-PCP .hh one
which be.3SG
(.) sama (1) ei
ole ai- aivan
sama mutta (.) sama,
(.) same (1) NEG.3SG be ex- exactly same but
(.) same
Okay I have heard one which is the same not exactly same but
the same.
°Mhy.°
Uhhuh.
Aika: sama (.) kuin tämä Pikku-Kalle-vitsi.
Pretty same
like this Pikku-Kalle-joke.
Word-search sequences can be prolonged when more than one coparticipant is involved in the process. The involvement of two or more coparticipants can result in long sequences and the following example
illustrates this, as it is the longest word search sequence—one minute--- that
occurs in the data. The participants of this excerpt are discussing their
breakfasts. Speaker A is describing that he eats bread with some fromage
frais, feta, margarine, and honey. The reason he has this particular breakfast
is because has eaten these foods for breakfast since he was a child in Iran,
and this is how his mother prepared breakfast. However, there is an
alternative to the honey. In lines 7 and 9, he initiates a search. After line 9,
there is a long pause. In line 11, he produces the imperative of the Finnish
word, sano, ‘say.2SG.IMP’, which is directed to the whole group (although
it is in the singular). In other words, while this indicates that he wants
someone else to take the turn and produce the missing word, he does not
specify who should take the turn (cf. Sacks et al. 1974: 704). Speaker A
continues this search by explaining that it is something that is made of fruit.
T repeats the explanation and J offers the first suggestion, marmelaadi,
‘marmalade’. In line 17, T offers another possible dish made of berries,
kiisseli, ‘fruit soup’. The initiator does not comment on these suggestions,
but clarifies the search by stating that it something sweet (line 22). In line
23, T clarifies the search further by posing the question aamulla, ‘in the
morning’. The search sequence goes on to side-track in line 25 when speaker
M shows a bowl of candy to the initiator and this leads to laughter. In line
38, speaker A produces the following description for the missing word:
mansikka joka keitetään, ‘strawberry that is preserved’. Finally, following
139
6 Word searches
this description, the correct word is found-- hillo, ‘jam’. This correct word is
greeted with a rising intonation and a repeat in line 40.
(60) MV 47. <46:22>
01
A:
02
03
S:
04
A:
05
T:
06
A:
07
A: →
08
T:
09
A: →
10
11
12
A: →
13
14
T:
15
J:
16
S:
17
T:
18
S:
19
T:
20
?:
Minä laita-n (.) bon↑jour feta se-n
pää-llä (.) floora-a?
1SG put-1SG (.) bonjour feta 3SG-GEN PRT
(.) flora-PTV
I put bonjour feta on top of it flora margarine?
Ja (.) ö: (.) mikä (1) hunaja.
And (.) VOC (.) what (1) honey
And what honey.
Huna[ja.]
Honey.
[Ja] he ihmettele-vät.
And 3PL wonder-3PL
And they wonder.
Joo [jo-]
Yeah yea
[Kos]ka lapse-sta asti äiti
on
teh-nyt kotona,
Because child-ELA since mother be.3SG do-PCP at.home
Because since childhood mother has made (it) at home,
Eli hunaja ↑tai (.) toinen mikä tehd-ään.
So honey
or (.) another what do-4
So honey or other that is made.
Mhy,
Uhhuh.
Mikä se-n
nimi on.
What 3SG-GEN name be.3SG
What is the name of it.
(2)
Sano.
Say.2SG.IMP
Say.
Hedelmä-stä keitet-ään,
Fruit-ELA
make-4
It is made of fruit,
(1)
Hedelmä[-stä keitet-ään.
Fruit-ELA
make-4
Made of fruit.
[Marme[laadi.
Marmalade.
[Marmelaadi.
Marmalade.
Kiisseli.
Fruit soup.
Marme↑laadi [ei.]
Marmalade no.
[Ei.]
No.
ºEi,º
No,
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6 Word searches
21
22
A:
23
T:
24
A:
25
M:
26
T:
27
A:
28
M:
29
T:
30
31
T:
32
A:
33
T:
34
35
T:
36
A:
37
S:
38
A:
39
T: →
40
A:
41
T:
42
A:
[ºÖ:º]
VOC
[Mikä] se on
makea syödä.
What
3SG be.3SG sweet eat
What is it sweet to eat.
Aamu-lla?
Morning-ADE
In the morning?
Aamu-l[la.]
Morning-ADE
In the morning.
[Tämä?] ((shows a bowl of candy))
This?
[Hedelm-i-stä?]
Fruit-PL-ELA
Of fruit?
[he he he]
Hedelm-i-stä [ei ei ei he he]
((laughter)) fruit-PL-ELA no no no
he he he of fruit no no no he he
[he he he]
he he he
[Ei ei ei,]
no no no,
((laughter))
Puuro-a.
Porridge-PTV
Porridge.
Ei: [ei.
No: no.
[Siis aamul-So
morningSo in the morn((laughter))
Kiisseli.
Fruit soup.
Mansikka joka,
Strawberry that,
Kiisseli.
Fruit soup.
Ei mansikka
joka keitet-ään,
No strawberry that preserve-4
No strawberry that is preserved,
Hillo-a.
Jam-PTV
Jam.
↑Hillo.
Jam.
Aivan.
Exactly.
Ilman
↑hillo-a (.) minä e-n
syö aamiais-ta.
Without jam-PTV (.) 1SG NEG-1SG eat breakfast-PTV
Without jam I do not eat breakfast.
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6 Word searches
This example suggests that regardless of how long it takes, or how sidetracked the search might become, the participants are willing to find the
correct word (cf. Egbert et al. 2004: 193–196).
At the beginning of the example, A describes his breakfast and recalls
how his mother would cook him breakfast when he was a child (lines 1-6).
In lines 2 and 3, a word search occurs that is self-initiated and solved. The
actual search begins in lines 7 and 9 when A attempts to recall what his
mother used to serve besides honey. This search is accompanied by a long
pause (2 seconds) and he subsequently states sano, ‘say’, pointing to speaker
S, but the word-search sequence is not that easily solved. The search
continues with explanations that the word in mind is something prepared by
cooking fruit. Then other participants begin to suggest different types of
fruit preserves (marmalade, fool; lines 15-18). In line 23, T wants to check
again that they are still talking about breakfast. Until this point, even though
the search is not yet solved, it has remained rather structured. In line 25, M
begins a sequence that confuses the conversation for a short time. During
this sequence, M takes a candy bowl that is on the table and shows it to the
others, proposing it as the resolution of the search. T continues the search in
line 26 and asks whether the preserve is made of fruit. Simultaneously, M
and A are still laughing at M’s proposal and due to this, T receives a
response to the question that is neither an affirmative nor negative. In line
31, T proposes that they might be talking about porridge which leads to a
digression from the search. A redirects the topic to the search by saying that
the preserve they are discussing is in fact strawberry. Finally, T produces the
correct word (hilloa, ‘jam’; line 39), which is also accepted by A.
Although this example can be interpreted as not being highly fluent in
terms of individual fluency, it can be evaluated instead based on the
conversational structure. From the point of view of the sequential
organisation, it can be stated that other than the sequence that was initiated
by M in line 26, virtually none of the turns overlap. The search somewhat
resembles a game where the participants give turns to each other. This
observation is in line with the assumption that although there are many
repairs, this does not necessarily imply that the speaker is to be assessed as
being non-fluent (Riggenbach 1991: 433). In this particular case, the
participants are also involved in other matters than resolving a word search.
For instance, they joke about the search and laugh together. (cf. Hüttner
2009: 288–289 regarding ‘having a good time’ in fluency studies.)
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6 Word searches
In the next example, E initiates a word search for the English noun,
‘clown’. Both C and J suggest a Finnish equivalent noun: C’s offers the
word pelle in line 3 and J’s proposes klovni in line 4. In comparison to the
previous example, klovni is an actual Finnish word, whereas kartuuni is not,
even though they are both similarly formed. However, E does not accept
either of these suggestions. In line 5, she requests clarification. C
subsequently emphasises his own suggestion by extending it to an entire
phrase: Se on pelle, ‘it is a clown’. J offers e again her own translation of
klovni in line 7. In lines 9 and 11, C repeats his offer for a third and fourth
time. After these repetitions, J begins to hesitate in line 12 and states en
minä tiedä, ‘I do not know’.32
After J’s hesitation and withdrawal, E describes the context of the word
use in lines 14–17. She explains that there might, for example, be a group of
people where one person constantly tells jokes. This type of behaviour
makes him or her look like a clown. In line 17, E uses the word offered by C
pelle, ‘clown’, and in doing so, confirms the suitability of the word.
(61) CC 29. <14:00/2>
01
E: →
02
03
C: →
04
J: →
05
E:
06
C:
07
J:
08
E:
09
C:
Mi-tä
on
clown.
What-PTV be.3SG clown
What is a clown.
(1)
Pelle.
Clown.
Klovni.
Clown.
Mikä?
What?
Se ↑on
pelle.
3SG be.3SG clown
It is a clown.
Klovni.
Clown.
Pe-Cl-↓Pelle.
Clown.
32
Baumgarten & House (2010) studied the English expression ‘I don’t know’ in both native and non-native
conversations and discovered that in L1 discourse, this expression is oriented towards the speaker and the
recipient, whereas in lingua franca discourse, it is oriented towards the speaker only. In other words, in L1
discourse, the speaker who produces the expression can demonstrate that he or she is aware that there
might a potential disagreement between speakers and therefore he or she invites the recipient to participate
and to produce dissenting contributions. (ibid. 1196). The excerpt under analysis is somewhat antithetical
to those findings. In this particular excerpt, speaker J has stated in lines 4 and 7 that the correct word is
klovni, ‘clown’, but then she begins to hesitate in line 12. She acknowledges that her statement might have
been incorrect and she therefore retracts it.
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6 Word searches
10
E:
11
C:
12
J:
13
C:
14
E:
15
16
17
18
J:
19
E:
↑Pelle.
Clown.
Pelle on
clown.
Pelle be.3SG clown.
Pelle is a clown.
Ei: minä e-n
tiedä ehkä
minä e-n
NEG 1SG NEG-1SG know perhaps 1SG NEG-1SG 1SG
°minä e-n
tiedä.°
NEG-1SG know
No I do not know perhaps I do not I do not know.
Joo.
Yeah.
Että esimerki-ksi m: joskus
on
(.) ↑class clown.
That example-TRANS VOC sometimes be.3SG (.) class clown.
That for example sometimes (it) is a class clown.
Esimerki-ksi että .hh jos on
poru-- porukka ja sitten
Example-TRANS that .hh if be.3SG gro-- group
and then
yksi (.) ihm-- ihmise-n
siellä (.) vain (1) m:
one (.) hum—human:being-GEN there (.) only (1) VOC
<kerto-o vitse-j-ä.>
tell-3SG joke-PL-PTV
For example that if there is a ga- a gang and then there is
one hum- human being there who just tells jokes.
Koko aika.
All time
All the time.
Ja ↓sitten hän on
kuin pelle.
And then
3SG be.3SG like clown
And then he is like a clown.
°Mhy.°
Uhhuh.
Ja jos (.) jos joskus
(.) se ei: ole (1) ö: mukava-a
And if (.) if sometimes (.) 3SG NEG be (1) VOC nice-PTV
(.) kaiki-lle.
(.) all-ALL
And if sometimes it is not nice for all.
As mentioned previously, when two or more speakers participate in a
search or defining process, this might lead to a prolonging of the sequence.
In addition, the fact that the speakers are non-native might also affect the
process. For instance, a participant may know grammar better or have more
knowledge of the language used than the other participants. On the other
hand, when searching for lexical items, there might not be a speaker who
knows ‘more words’ then the others and as a consequence, the search
prolongs and provides an opportunity for more speakers to participate. It is
also worth noting that when there are two or more suggestions or possible
resolutions for the search, they are treated as offers, not as final resolutions.
144
6 Word searches
The initiations of the search sequence were not complex. They were
initiated verbally and this could have led to a direct offer. Syntactically and
structurally, the search sequences were such that they required only one
noun as an answer. Although the initiation is not complex, the search
sequence may be prolonged for different reasons. One of the reasons can be
a situation when two or more participants contribute to the search process by
producing two or more possible variants. This type of communication
strategy is referred to as semantic contiguity (Kurhila 2006: 116, Yule &
Tarone 1997: 20). If a speaker uses the strategy of semantic contiguity, he or
she attempts to identify the unknown referent by producing words such as
synonyms, metonyms, or antonyms. After the identification, the participants
can further negotiate about the actual referent (Kurhila 2006: 116).
In the next example, the participants are attending an editorial meeting
and they are discussing the different styles of conducting interviews in
outdoor conditions. The main issue is what would be the correct way to
obtain interviewees and what types of questions would be appropriate to ask.
One possibility could be to ask them about their breakfast habits. In line 2,
M produces a possible variant of a word she has in mind, aihe, ‘subject’. T
confirms that word in line 3. After T’s affirmation, M produces another
possible variant of the word she is looking for osa, ‘part’. Next, S produces
yet another word, teema, ‘theme’ in line 5. The participants have now
established a semantic field that includes synonyms. Finally, M uses the
word osa in the sense of ‘a part of something’.
(62) MV 45. <58:44>
01
M:
02
→
03
T: →
04
M: →
05
S: →
.hh Jos lopu loppu-j-en lopu-ksi se on
viimeinen
.hh If end end-PL-GEN end-TRANS 3SG be.3SG final
pätkä.
part
If at the end it is the final part.
Jos >me teem-me noin< (.) pitä-ä
järjestä-ä
tää
If 1PL do-1PL about (.) have-3SG organize-INF this
jotenkin jos (.) .hh me ota-mme (.)
somehow if (.) .hh 1PL take-1PL (.)
yks ↑aihe
da ºaiheº,
one subject da subject
If we do so we have to somehow if we take one subject da
subject,
Ai[he,]
Subject,
Osa?
Part?
Teema.
Theme.
145
6 Word searches
06
M:
Osa ä ö
osa ruoa-sta jo↑ka vain (.)
Part VOC VOC part food-ELA which just (.)
vietnami↑laise-lla ↑tai kiinalaise-lla ↑tai somalilaise-lla
Vietnamese-ADE or Chinese-ADE
or Somali-ADE
↑tai venäläise-llä mi-stä
vaan se °Irani-ssa.°
or Russian-ADE
what-ELA only 3SG Iran-INE
Part of food that is only in Vietnamese or Chinese or Somali
or Russian or in Iran.
Thus, even though the search is focussed on one word, several factors can
contribute to the search sequence taking longer to resolve. The first is that a
speaker’s insufficient knowledge of a language might lead to participants
negotiating for the correct grammatical form. Second, when searching for
lexical items, the use of other languages can misdirect the search and can
even prolong it. Third, the search could be prolonged by when the speakers
propose synonyms or other semantically contiguous referents. On the other
hand, by listing constructions, the interlocutors can negotiate what is
actually being searched for. As Lerner (1993: 26–27) observes: “list
construction can provide the resources to respond to a proffered completion
without explicitly rejecting it, yet without accepting it.”
6.4 Reaction to the resolution
The final stage of a successful search sequence concerns how the resolution
is evaluated. Analysing the previous examples, I have also discussed the
reactions of the search initiator, but I will now concentrate on those
reactions more thoroughly.
6.4.1 The original speaker repeats or otherwise accepts the offered word
When I analysed the collaborative productions, I demonstrated that the
original speaker has the right to continue speaking after the final component
of the collaborative productions has been produced. That same rule also
applies to word searches and the structure of the search sequence also makes
this possible. Word-search sequences are typically designed so that speaker
usually conducts the search near the end of the unit, and produces only the
next word that is being searched for, and this creates a place for the coparticipant to complete the unit in progress. Following the search, the
primary speaker may continue his or her turn. (Lerner 1996: 261–263.)
The speaker who initiated the search usually repeats the offered word. In
the first example, B begins to recount that her girlfriend’s father has a dog
and that he goes to the forest to do something, but then B does not recall the
146
6 Word searches
actual verb that is used to describe the activity that the father engages in. In
line 4, C and J produce both the accurate Finnish word, metsästää, ‘to hunt’.
(63) FC 102. <15:00>
01
B: →
02
R:
03
B: →
04
L →
05
B:
Mutta hän isä
mene-e >mikä se on<
am-- ampun-,
But
3SG father go-3SG what 3SG be.3SG sh-- shooBut he father goes what is it sh- shoo-,
Tule-e.
Come-3SG
Comes.
Ja: tarvitse-e ↑koira-a.
And need-3SG
dog-PTV
And needs a dog.
Metsästä-ä.
Hunt-INF
To hunt.
Metsästä-ä ↑kyllä.
Hunt-INF
yes
To hunt, yes.
This example differs slightly from the typical word-search sequences
because these sequences usually lack a lexical noun, but the missing word in
this example is a verb. The following example also involves a missing verb,
but the reaction to the offer is a verbal acceptance rather than a repeat. In
line 1, E begins to hesitate and does not produce the infinitive form. In line
2, J helps out and E accepts the word in line 3 by stating joo, ‘yeah’. After
E’s acceptance, J repeats the whole sentence.
(64) CC 15. <35:35/1>
01
E:
02
J:
03
E:
04
J:
05
C:
Sit↓ten (.) hän halua-a (2) ö:,
Then
(.) 3SG want-3SG (2) VOC
Then he wants to,
↑Pelä-tä,
Be:afraid:of-INF
Be afraid of.
Joo,
Yeah,
Hän halua-a pelä-ä,
3SG want-3SG be:afraid:of-INF
He wants to be afraid,
°Joo joo.°
Yeah, yeah.
As was evident in the first example, the initiator of the word search can
accept the offered word and subsequently incorporate it as part of his or her
own utterance. The initiation is most often formed so that it tells the coparticipant what type of structure is being searched for. In addition, the
147
6 Word searches
placement of the search at the end of a unit helps the co-participant to
participate. In the following example, J states that not everyone is able to tell
jokes and perhaps there is some sort of quality that can contribute to joke
telling. However, she does not remember the word in Finnish and initiates a
word search in English in line 4. Following a long pause, she produces an
English word that could capture the meaning that she intends. In line 8, E
offers the Finnish word kokemus, ‘experience’ in the nominative case. J
takes that word and declines it in the partitive case, which is needed for the
whole construction. After declining the noun, she produces the entire phrase
of se tarvitsee kokemusta, ‘he needs experience’. (Brouwer et al. 2004: 85.)
(65) CC 16. <36:37/1>
01
J:
02
03
C:
04
J: →
05
06
07
08
09
J:
E: →
J:
Mutta ↑itse
minä e-n
osaa kerto
↓vitse-j-ä.
But
myself 1SG NEG-1SG know tell.INF joke-PL-PTV
But I myself I do not how to tell jokes.
Minä on
aina
vain kuuntele (-).
1SG be.3SG always only listen (-)
I always just listen.
Joo.
Yeah.
Kun se on
(.) minä luule-n
se tarvitse (2) e:
When 3SG be.3SG (.) 1SG think-1SG 3SG need.3SG (2) VOC
how to say it in ºEnglish I don’t know.º
When it is I think it needs, how to say it in ºEnglish, I
don’t know.º
(3)
Experience maybe.
(2)
Kokemus.
Experience.
↑Kokemus-ta
se tarvitse-e kokemus-ta.
Experience-PTV 3SG need-3SG
experience-PTV
Experience it needs experience.
A search can also be resolved incorrectly. Nevertheless, these incorrect
resolutions do not lead to disorder. For example, in the next order, J is
speaking about a friend of hers who does not understand jokes. In line 6, J
begins to search for a word. She cuts-off the word san-, then re-introduces
the phrase joskus, ‘sometimes’, and inhales. She also produces a hesitation
sound and pauses before producing the missing word in English,
‘behaviour’. In line 7, C tries to translate that word into Finnish and first
produces käy-, then käyttäy-, and he subsequently verbalizes his offer by
using the structure mikä se on käyttäy-, ‘what is it käyttäy-‘, and further
elaborates his own offer of joku käyttäy-, ‘something käyttäy-’.
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6 Word searches
Subsequently there is a pause before J accepts C’s offer. That offer is a
beginning of the word that adds to it the suffix -minen and forms the Finnish
word, käyttäminen ‘using’. This form can have two interpretations, as it can
be either a Fennicized word, or it can be an actual word that can be
translated into Finnish as ‘use’. If we support the second position, that
käyttäminen is ‘use’, it is evident that this is not the same word as behaviour,
which would be translated into Finnish as käyttäytyminen. However, both
words share the same sounds. In addition, J’s ability to formulate a Finnish
word that has a suffix -minen requires her to have a rather good knowledge
of Finnish (Kurhila 2006: 116).
(66) CC 26., 27. <05:17/2>
01
J:
02
C:
03
J:
04
E:
05
J:
06
→
07
C: →
08
09
J:
10
C:
11
J:
Minu-lla on
↑yksi kaveri (.)
1SG-ADE be.3SG one friend
I have one friend
°Mhy.°
Uhhuh.
Joka (.) joka ↑ei
ymmärtä
vitse-j-ä.
Who (.) who
NEG.3SG understand joke-PL-PTV
Who does not understand jokes.
Mhy.
Uhhuh.
Mt mutta se ö: kestä
pi:tkä aika aika kun minä
VOC but
3SG VOC take.3SG long
time time when 1SG
ymmärs-i-n
se-n.
understand-PST-1SG 3SG-GEN
But it took a long time before I understood it.
<Joskus
minä san-- sano-i-n>
joskus
.hh hän-en ö:
Sometimes 1SG sa-- say-PST-1PL sometimes .hh 3SG-GEN VOC
(1) behaviour,
(1) behaviour ((taps the table with her nails))
Sometimes I said, sometimes his behaviour,
Käy-- ↑käyttäy-- >mikä se on<
käyttäy-- joku käyttäy-Beh-- behavi-what 3SG be.3SG behavio-- some behavio—
Beh- behavi- what is it. Behavio- something behavio(1)
Hän ei:
(.) hän-en (.) käyttäminen,
3SG NEG.3SG (.) 3SG-GEN (.) using
He is his using,
Joo.
Yeah.
Käyttäminen (.) ol-i
↑no
(1) tosi hauska ja minä
Using
(.) be-PST.3SG well (1) very funny and 1SG
aina
(.) sano-i-n
vitse-j-ä
hän-en näköinen
always (.) say-PST-1SG joke-PL-PTV 3SG-GEN look:a:like
on
myös hauska.
be.3SG also funny.
Using was very funny I always told jokes his look-alike is
also funny.
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6 Word searches
The data contain few cases of rejection or overtly displayed disbelief. In
these cases, the initiator can express his or her disbelief in the third turn
(Kurhila 2006: 43, Schegloff 1992: 1304–1317). In the next example,
speaker M wants to know how they can make sound more audible to the
audience. She inquires in line 1 tarvitseko ö tämä, ‘do we need this’, and
then pauses. A adds the word kaiuttimet, ‘loudspeakers’. M and A
subsequently create a side sequence in lines 3–4 when M asks for a
clarification by using mikä, ‘what’, and A repeats the word kaiuttimet,
‘loudspeakers’. In line 5, M exhibits uncertainty over the word search and
initiates a third-position repair. She repeats the offered word, pauses, and
produces voi olla, ‘might be’, in a quiet voice. After an unclear response that
was produced by speaker A, M explains further that she is referring to the
technical solutions for the sound to be audible. M’s utterance in line 5, voi
olla, can be interpreted as her not completely accepting the offered word. In
other words, loudspeakers can be a part of the solution, but she also has
other issues on her mind.
(67) MV 55. <29:45>
01
M: →
02
A: →
03
M: →
04
A:
05
M: →
06
A:
07
M:
A: miten <ääni ö
kuule-mme> (.) tarvits-e-ko ö
tämä,
VOC how
voice VOC hear-1PL
(.) need-3SG-Q
VOC this
And how do we hear voice do we need this,
Kaiuttime-t.
Loudspeaker-PL
Loudspeakers.
Mikä?
What?
Kaiuttime-t.
Loudspeaker-PL
Loudspeakers.
Kaiuttime-t
(.) ºvoi
olla.º
Loudspeaker-PL (.) might.3SG be
Loudspeakers might be.
(Mhy.)
Uhhuh.
Se kuule-e ääni mi-tä
me tee-mme teknise-sti.
3SG hear-3SG voice what-PTV 1PL do-1PL technical-ADV
It hears voice what we do technically.
This type of third turn that occurs after the repair creates a chain between
the repairable and how the repair is evaluated. The co-participant can show
that he or she does not understand the self-initiated search. Thus, the first
speaker (self) can repair the problematic understanding. This can constitute
a third-position repair (Schegloff 1992: 1301). Furthermore, this can be
interpreted as forming a part of those procedures that the participants use to
150
6 Word searches
maintain intersubjectivity, which is mutual understanding. When
intersubjectivity faces a risk of breakdown, the participants have the means
to remedy of the situation. Schegloff (ibid. 1338) emphasizes the procedural
nature of those actions that the participants can take. However, there is no
need to specify prematurely what the trouble might be, or what may have
caused it. In short, the participants can manage the problems locally.
6.4.2 Original speaker continues directly
The initiator of the word search can also continue his or her speech without
any specific reference to the offered word. In these cases, the speaker
accepts the suggested word but does not repeat it or otherwise evaluate it.
Later, the current speaker can integrate the suggested word into his or her
own turn.
In the first example, speaker J is talking about immigrants who engage in
voluntary work. In line 2, she begins to hesitate in her word choice.
(68) PM 7. <54:26>
01
J:
02
→
03
D: →
04
J:
He ovat
(.) yhdessä että se on
3PL be.3PL (.) together that 3SG be.3SG
vähän sitten ero
kun su-lla ↑on
jo
(.)
little then difference when 2SG-ADE be.3SG already (.)
jotain
ja ole-t
heidä-n kanssa,
something and be-2SG 3PL-GEN with
They are together and there is a little difference when you
already have something and you are with them,
Ehkä
↑tee-t vapaaehtoistyö-stä (1) kuin yht-- oma-ssa
Perhaps do-2SG voluntary:work-ELA (1) like coo-- own-INE
yhteiskunna-- ei (-) mutta [(.) >piire-i-ssä
societ-NEG (-) but
(.) circle-PL-INE
piire-i-ssä.<
circle-PL-INE
Perhaps you do voluntary work like in own societ- no but in
circles in circles.
[Yhteistyö-ssä.
Cooperation-INE
In cooperation.
Että e:-t
(.) sinä e-t
mene mihinkään mui-hin kun
That NEG-2SG (.) 2SG NEG-2SG go
anywhere else-ILL when
sinu-lla on
jo,
2SG-ADE be.3SG already
That you do not go anywhere else when you already have,
As mentioned previously, the speaker who initiated the word search can
also integrate the offered word into his or her own turn and through that,
demonstrate that the offer has been accepted. In the following example, E’s
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6 Word searches
offer occurs in a form that is needed for the construction. The modal verb
voida, ‘to be able’, requires an object that is in the A-infinitive (which is
called the dictionary form; VISK § 469).
(69) CC 17. <37:55/1>
01
J: →
02
E: →
03
J:
04
E:
05
J:
Se ↑on
minä luule-n
jos ö: (.) ↑kertomus vitse-j-ä
3SG be.3SG 1SG think-1SG if VOC (.) story
joke-PL-PTV
on
myös tosi tärkeä
kuitenkin tilanne
on
be.3SG also very important however
situation be.3SG
vaikea
ja se on
.hh e: kuin sinä voi-t
e:
difficult and 3SG be.3SG .hh VOC like 2SG can-2SG VOC
It is I think if a story and jokes are also very important,
however, a situation is difficult and it is you can
Men-nä.
Go-INF
To go.
M-- että jou sinä voi käyttä huumori ja men-nä pois tä-stä
M-- that VOC 2SG can use.INF humour and go-INF away thisELA
>tilannee-sta< vaikea-sta
tilannee-sta.
situation-ELA difficul-ELA situation-ELA
That you can use humour and get away from this difficult
situation.
°Mhy.°
Uhhuh.
Se on
tosi tärkeä
m- joskus
n- on
(1)
3SG be.3SG very important VOC sometimes VOC be.3SG (1)
sem↑mois-i-a tilanne-i-ta.
such-PL-PTV situation-PL-PTV
It is very important sometimes there are such situations.
(70) TI 21. <4:54>
01
N: →
02
E: →
03
N:
Èt-i
vy ↑tože zna-ete labora-- [èt-i laboratori-ju
This-PL 2PL also know-2PL labora-- this-PL laboratory-ACC
i
vs-e
tak-ie vešč-i.
and all-PL such-PL thing-PL
These you also know labora-, these laboratories and all
other things.
[.h laboratori-i
konečno.
.h laboratory-PL
of course.
Laboratories, of course.
A
kogda v
Rossi-ju
v
Rossi-i
by-l-i
tam
But when PRE Russia-ACC PRE Russia-PREP be-PST-PL there
>mnogo tadžik-ov<
vy tak poznakomi-l-i-s’.
many
Tajik-PL.GEN 2PL that get:acquainted-PST-PL-REFL
A when you were in Russia, you got acquainted with many
Tajik there.
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6 Word searches
As is evident in example 69, if the suggested word occurs in the correct
form, it can be accepted without specific reference to its suitability.
6.4.3 Either the co-participant continues or the continuation is longer
As mentioned earlier, the word-search sequence is typically designed so that
only the sought after word is produced and the initiator of the word search
may then continue speaking. It is also possible that the speaker who offered
the word might produce a longer unit or continue with his or her talk. In the
next example, speaker N is struggling with a specific Russian concept. This
is because it is customary in Russian academic speech to construct
compound nouns with one part of an adjective and one part of a noun. For
example, filfak: filologičeskij fakul’tet, would be the ‘Faculty of Philology’.
In this particular example under discussion, the participants are speaking
about the educational system of Tajikistan and especially about the doctoral
training there. In line 1, N tries to formulate the appropriate word and
initiates the search by stating v ètom med-, ‘in this med-‘. The word med- is
cut-off and the utterance ends up having a slightly falling intonation. In line
2, A acknowledges that the idea in N’s utterance was correct and confirms it
by using the affirmative particle da, ‘yes’, then she takes the whole
construction and recycles it as a part of her own utterance: v medkolledž
postupila, ‘I was admitted to the medical institute’. The word medkolledž,
‘medical institute’ consists of the truncated adjective med- (from
medicinskij, ‘medical’) and a noun, kolledž (college). This type of truncation
is typical of the Russian colloquial speech that is used in educational and
vocational spheres (Zemskaja et al. 1981: 126–127).
(71) TI 37. <8:32>
01
N: →
02
A: →
03
N:
.h A
posle posle škol-y (.) posle vy srazu
.h but after after school-GEN after 2PL immediately
postupi-l-i
v
↑èto-m
(.) med--,
be:admit-PST-PL PRE this-PREP (.) med-But right after school and then you immediately got admitted
to this med,
Da v
medkolledž-ø
[postupi-l-a.
Yes PRE medical:institut-ACC be:admit-PST-FEM
Yes, I was admitted to the medical institute.
[Èt-o
by-l-o
↑vs-ë
3SG-NEU be-PST-NEU all-NEU
po-rus-sk-i.
PRE-Russian-ADJ-ADV
It was all in Russian.
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6 Word searches
04 A:
.h Èt-o
by-l-o
da
vs-ë,
.h 3SG-NEU be-PST-NEU yes all-NEU
It was yes all,
Even though it is possible that the search sequence is prolonged due to
the appropriate word or expression is not being found easily, other instances
also occur. The following example illustrates that while the language used is
foreign to the participants, this does necessarily restrict their innovative use
of the language. In line 1, speaker M initiates the search by first cutting off
the word so-, then he cuts off the word surf- and verbalises his search by
asking mikä se oli, ‘what was it?’ Speaker R helps him in line 2 and
produces the needed Finnish word, surffata, ‘to surf’ in the infinitive form.
M accepts the suggested word by repeating it in the correct form, surffas-i-n,
‘surf-PST-1SG’. Speaker S subsequently joins the conversation and
produces a word that does not exist in Finnish, which could be analysed
analogically as turffail-i-n, ‘turf-PST-1SG’.
(72) FC 106. <11:08>
01
M: →
02
R: →
03
M:
04
S: →
05
N:
06
M:
07
R:
Minä e-n
tei tuota minä so-- surf-- ä:
1SG NEG-1SG VOC well 1SG so-- surf-- VOC
mikä se ol-i.
what 3SG be-PST.3SG
I do not, well, I surf-, what was it?
Surffa-- ↑surffa-ta.
Surf-surf-INF.
To surf.
Surf↓fas-i-n.
Surf-PST-1SG.
I surfed.
Turffail-i-n.
Turf-PST-1SG
I turfed.
Surffail-i-n.
Surf-PST-1SG
I surfed.
Surffail-i-n ↑neti-ssä,
Surf-PST-1SG Internet-INE
I surfed the Internet.
↑Ja mer-ta.
And sea-PTV.
And the sea.
There are few examples of other continuations in the word-search
sequences in my data. Usually only the searched word is produced and the
co-participant does not adopt a stance in relation to the offered word. The
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6 Word searches
result is that the suitability or the appropriateness of the word is evaluated
after the actual word-search sequence.
6.5 Unsolved cases
Whenever a search sequence is initiated, there is always a chance that it can
fail. However, as previous examples demonstrate, the participants are
willing to invest heavily in terms of times and effort to ensure the search
sequence is effectively solved. As a consequence, unsolved searches are
uncommon. Moreover, one of the reasons for a failure can be the use of
other languages than the spoken lingua franca. As has been discussed earlier
in this study, when the speakers use other languages, these can affect the
ongoing word search in many ways. While it can speed up the sequence, it
can also prolong it.
The following example features speaker M attempting to find a Finnish
equivalent for the word opportunities. First, he initiates the search in line 1
by stating: minä sanon englanniksi opportunity, ‘I say in English
opportunity’. Second, he states that he thinks that Helsinki is a good city
(line 2) and continues his turn in line 3 with the statement of Helsingissä on
paljon opportunities, ‘Helsinki has a lot of opportunities’. He has used the
word ‘opportunity’ twice before actually admitting that he does not know
the word in Finnish. In line 7, he asks his interlocutor what ‘opportunity’ is
in Finnish and indicates that he wants that the interlocutor to take the turn
(Sacks et al. 1974: 704). Nonetheless, in line 8, speaker L admits that he
does not know the word in Finnish. In line 9, the original initiator of the
search produces a dialogic particle mhy, ‘uhhuh’.
(73) FC 89. <31:43>
01
M:
02
03
→
Minä sano-n ↑englanni-ksi opportunity ja hän sano-o mikä
1SG say-1SG English-TRANS opportunity and 3SG say-3SG what
se on
(-) ↓Helsingi-stä.
3SG be.3SG (-) Helsinki-ELA
I say in English opportunity he says what it is of Helsinki.
Minä sano-n (.) e: Helsinki on
hyvä kaupungi (.)
1SG say-1SG (.) VOC Helsinki be.3SG good city
(.)
kaupunki mutta e:
city
but
VOC
I say Helsinki is a good city but
Ja (1) ↑Helsingi-ssä on
(.)
paljon
opportunities
And (1) Helsinki-INE be.3SG (.) lot of
opportunities
minä en
tiedä ↑mikä on
opportunity suome-ksi.
1SG NEG-1SG know
what be.3SG opportunity Finnish-TRANS
And there are a lot of opportunities in Helsinki I do not
know what is opportunity in Finnish.
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6 Word searches
04
05
M:
06
?:
07
M: →
08
L: →
09
M:
(2)
Sitten hän >kirjoitta-a< sii-hen (-)
Then
3SG write-3SG
3SG-ILL (-)
Then he writes to it
(↑suome--)
Finnis-Sano:
↑sano
(.) opportunity.
Say.IMPER.2SG say.IMPER.2SG (.) opportunity
Say say opportunity.
Mutta en
↑tiedä mi-tä
se on
suome-ksi.
But
NEG-1SG know what-PTV 3SG be.3SG Finnish-TRANS
But I do not what it is in Finnish.
°Mhy.°
Uhhuh.
What is interesting in these cases is that the current speaker is highly
determined to find the equivalent so that he compels the recipient to produce
the correct word. He wants them to reach a common ground before moving
onwards even though he knows the correct word in English.
In the previous example, the initiator of the word search did not know the
word in Finnish even though he had thought of the correct word in in
English. The current speaker specifically wanted to have the appropriate
equivalent. However, the co-participants did address the issue under
inspection. The interruption of the ongoing development of the talk in
progress makes the unavailability of the word relevant. That is, the talk in
progress is not “moving toward its projected completion” (Goodwin &
Goodwin 1986: 55–56). On the other hand, a halt in the progression of
conversation can also threaten the achievement of mutual understanding
(Heritage 1996 [1984]: 249–257). However, participants can engage in
defence intersubjectivity during conversation. This defence is procedural
and locally managed. (Schegloff 1992: 1338, see also Bazzanella &
Damiano 1999.) Furthermore, there is no need to count the specific reasons
for its occurrences, as it is locally adapted. When analysing the single
passages of conversation, it can be implemented in those circumstances that
are understandable only to those participants present in that particular
conversation. (Schegloff 1992: 1338.)
6.6 Summary
Participants have a variety of ways to express that they are having problems
forming utterances. The current speaker can pause during his or her turn,
produce hesitation sounds, or indicate directly that he or she is missing a
word. The co-participant is usually the only speaker to produce sought-after
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6 Word searches
word and the original speaker can subsequently continue his or her turn. The
original speaker can accept the offered word by repeating it, by producing
an affirmative particle, or by integrating the word into part of the next
utterance. If the search sequence prolongs, it is usually because the word has
not been determined. Another possibility is that if the search sequence
continues longer, the process of determining the correct word becomes the
actual action. Although the suitable word is not found immediately, this
does not suggest that the participants would begin arguing or behave in a
hostile manner. Searching for the appropriate word might also create a sense
of participants enjoying themselves.
In NNS interaction, no single participant is most. While usually a
distinction can be made between whether the search regards a lexical item or
a grammatical issue, this distinction may not be relevant. There are some
cases in which the grammatical appropriateness surfaces in the
conversational so that it causes disturbances in the ongoing conversation.
During grammatical searches, the participants can search for the correct
form together and decide it in cooperation although in the terms of native
Finnish language, the form might be nongrammatical. In other words,
participants do not encounter problems with linguistic structures in a sense
that they would not know how to decline them, such as a noun, but the
problem is that they are not familiar with the noun that they want to decline.
Thus, the extensive number of Finnish cases or the moderate number of
Russian cases is not necessarily the factor that causes problems.
The grammatical searches involving both participants are only found in
the Finnish data. Although the Finnish and Russian languages have the same
type of overall structure and they both possess a moderate number of
morphological categories, only the participants in the Finnish conversations
become involved in grammatical searches. This might be due to the
circumstances in which the languages had been learnt. Considering Finnish,
the lingua franca speakers are usually adults who have learnt Finnish in
different language courses, which could mean that they more oriented to
grammatical issues. The speakers also have usually emigrated to Finland,
suggesting that the Finnish language had not been a part of their lives
before. However, the lingua franca speakers of the Russian language have
had different histories. The lingua franca speakers of Russian may have a
more native-speaker relation to the language. For this reason, they do not
consider grammatical appropriateness as important as the lingua franca
speakers of the Finnish language (see, e.g. Kurhila 2006: 132–133).
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6 Word searches
As defined in the introduction, the focus of this study is not primarily on
the actual language form that is used in conversations. However, some of the
possible tendencies in language use can be identified. The possible cases of
ungrammatical language use are occasional in the sense that not every
speaker shares the same forms, or uses the language similarly. Second, as
mentioned earlier, they are merely tendencies, as I have not analysed every
single occurrence. In general, these cases may be useful later in planning
future research plans.
The question of language form becomes increasingly evident when the
participants negotiate the correct grammatical forms or other appropriate
language use. The offers for the word-search sequences are dominated by
either the nominative case or the infinitive form of the verb. These are
referred to as the basic or dictionary forms. Three possible explanations can
account for this. Firstly, the way the sequence is initiated required only this
type of basic form; secondly, the offered word is in the nominative case,
thirdly; the verb is in the infinitive. After the offer, the initiator of the
sequence has an opportunity to decline the noun in the correct case. For
instance, in the Finnish examples, the question mikä se on, ‘what is it’,
usually reveals that the searched word is a noun and that it can be produced
in the nominative case.
With special reference to the Russian language, there are certain
categories that might undergo changes during Russian lingua franca
interaction. First, the grammatical form of the noun after a cardinal number
fluctuates. In example 16, the speaker first used the correct form of the noun
after the cardinal number pjat’, ‘five’: pjat’ procent-ov, ‘five percentPL.GEN’. Later in that same excerpt, she used the nominative case in the
plural after the cardinal: pjat’ procent-y, ‘five percent-PL.NOM’. A second
category that is liable to changes is gender. For example, the third-personal
pronouns that usually reflect the referent’s gender might be used differently.
When discussing the semantics of the language, one of the tendencies in
lingua franca interaction is the use of semantically close words. In example
19, the speaker used two semantically close verbs that were related to
studying. From a native speaker’s perspective, the verb use might be
inappropriate, but the non-native speakers accept the usage without
hesitation.
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7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
In the chapter 6, I focused on examples that contained a conversational
understanding that surfaced in and through a disruption in the progress of
the conversation. Rather than providing the next relevant turn, either the
current speaker or the recipient may focus on some elements in the prior
speech. This type of disruption makes the unavailability of a word relevant
to the conversation. In these cases, the participants orient to establishing
mutual understanding so that it disrupts the progress of the conversation.
However, this orientation does not always completely disrupt the
progress of conversation. The recipient can take multiple actions should he
or she experience that something problematic is arising in the prior speaker’s
turn. The recipient can either repair the problem, or he or she can take one
step forward and formulate how he or she understands the problematic
utterance. Those type of instances in which the co-participant articulates his
or her interpretation of the previous turns are referred to as candidate
understandings (Kurhila 2006: 153–217).
In terms of conversational repair, these articulations, or candidate
understandings, as I will refer to them in this chapter, can be categorised as
other-initiations of repair. In other words, they present a possible
understanding of the trouble turn, which is subsequently confirmed or
disconfirmed by the speaker of the trouble turn (cf. Schegloff et al. 1977).
Thus, the current speaker produces a turn which the recipient interprets
which is then evaluated by the first speaker.
These interpretations can consist of one lexical word (usually a noun), or
it can also be a full clause that contains a finite verb (table 7). Furthermore,
the beginning of the unit can contain a response particle. These words and
larger units reformulate the previous turns or rephrase it.
159
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
Table 7. Candidate understandings.
Candidate understandings
Finnish
Russian
Full clauses
4
11
Noun phrases
4
4
Total
8
15
7.1 Full clauses
First, I will concentrate on those cases that contain a full clause. Repair
initiations are often unfocussed in that they do indicate that the prior
speaker’s turn was somehow problematic, but they allow the speaker to
decide on where the problem is located. For example, the co-participant can
display her difficulty in producing a relevant response by initiating an openclass repair (‘sorry,’ ‘what’, etc., see Drew 1997), by verbalizing his/her
difficulty (‘I don’t quite follow.’) or by requesting clarification from the
speaker (‘What do you mean?’).
In the first example, the participants, N and E, engaged in a discussion on
the language situation in Tajikistan. They mention that their workplaces
have workers of different nationalities, predominantly Russians, Tajiks and
Uzbeks. In lines 1 through 5, the participants are listing those nationalities
and N is attempting to determine the language that they use. In line 6, N
begins her turn with the particle a, and E subsequently produces a clause
that connects all the previous nationalities into one, vse nacional’nosti ‘all
nationality-PL’. In line 8, N begins her turn again with the particle a and
reformulates the turns that are being produced prior to that and produces the
full clause A: a vse govorili russki, ‘oh, all spoke Russian’.
(74) TI 2. <27:04>
01
N:
02
E:
03
N:
Aga vse-taki na↑čal’nik-i,
Aha however chief-PL
However chiefs,
Aga.
Aha.
Vs-e
↑rus-sk-ij,
All-PL Russian-ADJ-MASC
All Russian,
160
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
04
05
E: →
06
N:
07
E:
08
N: →
09
E:
10
N:
Aga a
ra↑boč-ie by-l-i
tadžik-i,
Aha but worker-PL be-PST-PL Tajik-PL
But the workers were Tajik,
Raboč-ie
↑tadžik-i ↑uzbek-i, (---)
Workers-PL Tajik-PL Uzbek-PL
Workers are Tajik people Uzbek people,
A:
VOC
Vse
(-) nacio↑nal’nost-i,
All-PL (-) nationality-PL
All nationalities,
A: a
vs-e
govori-l-i
(.) rus-sk-ij.
VOC but all-PL speak-PST-PL (.) Russian-ADJ-MASC
But all spoke Russian.
Tadžik-sk-ij
rus-sk-ij (-),
Tajik-ADJ-MASC Russian-ADJ-MASC
Tajik Russian,
Aga horoš-o.
Aha good-ADV
Aha okay.
These types of reformulations and interpretations of the previous turn(s)
can be referred to as paraphrases (Kurhila 2006: 161). The function of these
is to recapitulate what has been stated earlier and they usually begin with
different types of particles.
In addition to particles, different conjunctions can also function as a
paraphrase the previous turn(s). To paraphrase a previous turn, the
conjunction is placed at the beginning of the paraphrase in the next example.
At the beginning of the excerpt, speaker N verifies whether she has
understood correctly that her co-participant did not have the opportunity to
study foreign languages during her school time. However, in lines 2 and 4,
the co-participant corrects this saying that she had studied German, but not
that effectively. In line 6, she continues to explain that they currently have a
German teacher who is good. In line 8, speaker N continues and produces
another main clause, no netu s kem obščat’sja da, ‘but there is no one with
whom to talk’. Since it is customary to think that in order to learn foreign
languages and become a fluent speaker, one has to have an opportunity to
use the language. If a learner does not have this opportunity, his or her
language skills may be fragmented. This opinion is again confirmed in lines
11–12: the participants state that it learning a language requires effort and
practice.
161
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
(75) TI 11. <18:03>
01
N:
02
E:
03
N:
04
E:
05
06
N:
07
E: →
08
N: →
09
E:
U
vas
[ne by-l-o
<ne↑mec-k-ij
PRE 2PL.GEN NEG be-PST-NEU German-ADJ-MASC
ang↑lij-sk-ij,>
English-ADJ-MASC
You did not have German English,
[(-) nemec-k-ij
[by-l-o
(-) German-ADJ-MASC be-PST-NEU
German was.
[ne↓mec-k-ij.
German-ADJ-MASC
German.
Nemec-k-ij
jazyk
by-l-ø.
German-ADJ-MASC language was-PST-MASC
German language was.
.h Nemec-k-ij
jazyk
vy↑uči-l-ø
no v: ne tak
.h German-ADJ-MASC language learn-PST-MASC but VOC NEG that
horoš-o.
good-ADV
I learnt German language but not that good.
Zde’s ne n:,
Here NEG n:
Here is not,
Est’
↑od-in
nemec-k-ij
prepodavatel’ on horoš-ij
Be.3SG one-MASC German-ADJ-MASC teacher
he good-MASC
[on horoš-o zna-et.
he good-ADV know-3SG
There is one German teacher he is good he knows.
[Aga .h no ↑netu s
ke-m
obšča-t’-sja da.
Aha .h but NEG PRE who-INST talk-INF-REFL yes
But there is nobody to talk with.
Nu
da s
ke-m,
Well yes PRE who-INST
Well yes with whom,
The conjunction in the previous example was both contrastive and
coordinate. However, it is also possible to use conjunctions that are by
nature more subordinate. In the following example, C is describing that he is
not very fond of written stories that are meant to be hilarious. In line 1, he
states that they might have some humoristic element in them, but not that
much. In line 3, he begins to recount how he reacts to that genre of written
stories by stating, Mä en naura kovasti kun, ‘I don’t laugh loudly when’. In
line 4, J participates and produces a clause that connects the different sides
of the previous turns and continues the thought that was initiated by Speaker
C. However, this case differs from the collaborative productions and word
searches because the projection changes. As seen in line 3, C refers to
162
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
himself and uses the first-person singular. Subsequently, in line 4, J shifts
the perspective and refers to C by using the-second person singular.
(76) CC 24. <02:04/2>
01
C:
02
J:
03
C: →
04
J: →
05
C: →
Mä ↑luule-n
että (2) m: (.) .hh ne voi-vat olla v:ähän
1SG think-1SG that (2) VOC (.) .hh 3PL can-PL3 be
a
little hh huumorinen mutta (.) mutta ei: (1) kova kovin
hh humorous
but
(.) but
NEG
very very
I think they can be a little humorous but not that much
Mhy.
Uhhuh.
Mä e-n
naura ↑kova-sti kun kun,
1SG NEG-1SG laugh hard-ADV when when
I do no laugh hard when,
>Kun kun< lue-t
joo.
When when read-2SG yeah.
When you read yeah.
Kun lue-t
joskus
↑on
ookoo mutta
When read-2SG sometimes be.3SG okay but
tavallise-sti ei
ole niin niin h(h)auska.
usual-AD
NEG.3SG be so
so
funny
When you read sometimes is okay but usually is not that
funny.
I have used the term conjunction for this case, even though the same
lexical word kun might also be interpreted as functioning as a specific type
of particle. These types of utterance particles and conjunctions are usually
the same words, but they exhibit some differences. The utterance particles
are used to analyse and observe interaction. These particles indicate how the
utterance is connected to the preceding speech. Thus, they connect turns and
utterances either in one speaker’s speech, or in multiple speakers’ speech
and they are usually placed at the beginning of the turn or the utterance.
These particles do not function as indications of syntactic relations. For
example, in spoken language, the particle kun is usually used to signal
different types of explanations and reasoning, but this does not mean that the
utterance launched by it should be interpreted as being syntactically
subordinate to the preceding utterance. If the same word kun is analysed as a
conjunction, the situation is different. In those cases, the conjunction
functions as a sign of subordination. Furthermore, there is a connection
between the preceding clause and the clause initiated by the conjunction.
This connection might be temporal, causal or contrastive. (VISK § 801 806,
812, 818.)
In this particular example, the conjunction is used in both turns. In the
preceding turn, it is placed at the end of the turn, and in the following turn, it
163
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
occurs at the beginning. By using this conjunction, speaker J demonstrates
how she understood the previous turns that were produced by speaker C.
She picks up the conjunction, shifts focus, and produces the needed part for
C’s utterance to be completed.
Let us consider the following example 33: J is telling of her friend who
does not understand jokes. However, J did not realise that immediately. A
word-search sequence that is initiated in line 6 creates a side sequence until
speaker J becomes certain that the Finnish equivalent is käyttäminen ‘using’.
Speaker J then produces the particle no and moves forward. J states that she
used to tell jokes and she thought that her friend also understood them
because her friend appeared to be enjoying his or herself. Then E
paraphrases J’s previous turns by saying koska hän ei ymmärrä, ‘because
he/she doesn’t understand’. J confirms this paraphrase in line 13.
(77) CC 27. <05:17/2>
01
J:
02
C:
03
J:
04
E:
05
J:
06
→
07
C: →
08
09
J:
10
C:
33
Minu-lla on
↑yksi kaveri (.)
1SG-ADE be.3SG one friend
I have one friend
°Mhy.°
Uhhuh.
Joka (.) joka ↑ei
ymmärtä
vitse-j-ä.
Who (.) who
NEG.3SG understand joke-PL-PTV
Who does not understand jokes.
Mhy.
Uhhuh.
Mt mutta se ö: kestä
pi:tkä aika aika kun minä
VOC but
3SG VOC take.3SG long
time time when 1SG
ymmärs-i-n
se-n.
understand-PST-1SG 3SG-GEN
But it took a long time before I understood it.
<Joskus
minä san-- sano-i-n>
joskus
.hh hän-en ö:
Sometimes 1SG sa-- say-PST-1PL sometimes .hh 3SG-GEN VOC
(1) behaviour,
(1) behaviour ((taps the table with her nails))
Sometimes I said sometimes his behaviour,
Käy-- ↑käyttäy-- >mikä se on<
käyttäy-- joku käyttäy-Beh-- behavi-what 3SG be.3SG behavio-- some behavio-(1)
Hän ei:
(.) hän-en (.) käyttäminen,
3SG NEG.3SG (.) 3SG-GEN (.) using
He is his using,
Joo.
Yeah.
The word-search sequence that occurs in lines 6–11 was analysed before.
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7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
11
J:
12
E: →
13
J:
Käyttäminen (.) ol-i
↑no
(1) tosi hauska ja minä
Using
(.) be-PST.3SG well (1) very funny and 1SG
aina
(.) sano-i-n
vitse-j-ä
hän-en näköinen
always (.) say-PST-1SG joke-PL-PTV 3SG-GEN look:a:like
on
myös hauska.
be.3SG also funny.
Well the using was very funny. And I always told jokes
because he is also funny.
Koska
hän ei
↑ymmärrä.
Because 3SG be.3SG understand.
Because he does not understand.
Joo °ei°.
Yeah, no.
In this example, E uses a conjunction to recapitulate the preceding
conversation, which was side-tracked due to the word-search sequence. This
type of interpretation can shift the focus on the previous turns. However,
they need not be solely backward-oriented (such as corrections). Since the
speaker uses her own words to describe what she thought the other speaker
was saying, she often introduces new elements into the conversation. Thus,
rather than merely modifying the prior, the articulations take a step forward
from the problematic situation by presenting a potential reading of the
trouble turn. (Kurhila 2006: 153.) In this particular example, the
conversation became side-tracked, but the participants were able to
formulate a potential interpretation of what was being said.
From the perspective of conversation and what has been evident in the
previous examples is that a candidate understanding has a specific place in
the conversation and it is followed by a certain action. Typically, “a
candidate understanding functions as the first pair part of an adjacency pair,
since it projects a confirmation as the next turn” (Kurhila 2006: 155).
In the example that follows, participant E is speaking about her ongoing
thesis and the theoretical framework. In line I, she describes her work as
ispol’zovanie russkogo jazyka na praktike kak finny, ‘the use of Russian
language in practice how Finns’. In line 2, M reformulates the previous turns
of speaker E and produces the candidate understanding of deti meždu soboj
kak, ‘the children together how’. This functions as a first-pair part of an
adjacency pair and it projects a confirmation in the next turn. Speaker E
produces the second-pair part as a minimal response da, ‘yes’.
165
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
(78) UM 43. <01:33:09>
01
E:
02
М: →
03
E:
Nu
da is↑pol’zovanie rus-sk-ogo
jazyk-a
Well yes use
Russian-ADJ-GEN language-GEN
na praktik-e
kak ↑finn-y,
PRE practice-PREP how Finn-PL
Well yes the use of Russian language in practice how Finns,
Det-i
meždu so↓b-oj
kak.
Child-PL PRE
self-INST how
Children with each other how.
Da.
Yes.
While candidate understandings might somehow affect the progressivity
of the ongoing conversation, this does not necessarily occur in all cases.
Example 79 is a rather long excerpt from a conversation in which the
participants are discussing the language policies in different countries.
Speaker J has a question concerning the relationship between the Finnish
and Carelian languages. She wants know whether the Carelian language is
considered to be a dialect of Finnish. At this point, speakers A and M begin
to define how those two languages can be divided or connected. In line 9, A
describes that there are two different aspects to consider and the first is the
Carelian dialect. Then, speaker M wants to clarify the situation and begins
his own description in line 10. He states that there are two separate things.
There is a Carelian language, which is a part of Finnish language and then
there is a separate Carelian language. In line 14, M states that the Carelian
language in Finland has almost disappeared. However, the Carelian dialect
of Finnish is spoken in Eastern Finland. In line 17, A confirms this and adds
that in that part of the country everyone uses this dialect. The speaker
therefore demonstrates that he is a knowing participant and that he can make
assessments (Pomerantz 1984: 57).
(79) UM 40. <01:50:49>
01
J:
02
?:
03
J:
04
?:
Da i
možno od-na
želanie >od-no<
želanie.
Yes and can
one-FEM wish
one-NEU wish
Yes and can one wish.
Ugu.
Uhhuh.
U
menja
(2) no èt-o
ne kasa-et-sja
PRE 1SG.GEN (2) but 3SG-NEU NEG concern-3SG-PRT
rus-- rus-sk-- rus-sk-ogo
jazyk-a.
Rus-- Russi-- Russian-ADJ-GEN language-GEN
I have but it does not concern Russian language.
°Ugu.°
Uhhuh.
166
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
05
J:
06
07
08
09
N:
10
М:
11
N:
12
М:
13
J:
14
М:
15
J:
16
М:
17
A: →
Nu
è: esli ja hote-l-a
by iz-- izuča-t’
Well VOC if
1SG want-PST-FEM PRT st-- study-INF
ka↑rel’-sk-ij
jazyk
nu
nu
a: v: Finljandi-i
Carelian-ADJ-MASC language well well VOC PRE Finland-PREP
è è nu točn-o
°ne zna-ju°.
VOC well precisely-ADV NEG know-1SG
Well, if I wanted to study the Carelian language well in
Finland, well, precisely, I do not know.
V
Finljandi-i karel’-sk-ij
jazyk
duma-et
kak
PRE Finland-PREP Carelian-ADJ-MASC language think-3SG like
dialekt >dialekt< ne jazyk.
dialect dialect NEG language.
In Finland, the Carelian language is considered to be a
dialect, not a language.
(1)
((simultaneous speech))
Èt-o
dve vešč-i
èt-o
karel’-sk-ij
dia↑lekt i
3SG-NEU two thing-PL 3SG-NEU Carelian-ADJ-MASC dialect and
It is two thing--it is the Carelian dialect and
Est’
karel’-sk-ij
jazyk
↑fin-sk-ogo
Be.3SG Carelian-ADJ-MASC language Finnish-ADJ-GEN.MASC
jazyk-a
i
est’
ka↓rel’sk-ij
jazyk.
language-GEN and be.3SG Carelian-ADJ-MASC language
There is the Carelian language of the Finnish language and
the Carelian language.
T-ot
↑i drug-oj
est’.
One-MASC and another-MASC be.3SG
One and another is.
T-ot
i
drug-oj
est’.
One-MASC and another-MASC be.3SG
One and another is.
Po-èt-omu
ja hoč-u
uzna-t’ kak ↑tret-’ego
PRE-IT-DAT 1SG want-1SG know-INF how three-GEN.NEU
lic-a
èt-o
položenie karel’-sk-ogo
party-GEN this-NEU position
Carelian-ADJ-GEN.MASC
jazyk-a
v
Finljandi-i i,
language-GEN PRE Finland-PREP and
That is why I want to know as a third party this position of
the Carelian language in Finland and,
V
Finljandi-i počti net karel’-sk-ogo
jazyk-a.
PRE Finland-PREP almost NEG Carelian-ADJ-GEN.MASC languageGEN
In Finland, there is almost no Carelian language.
°Ugu.°
Uhhuh.
Est’
dia↑lekt fin-sk-ogo
jazyk-a
tam
Be.3SG dialect Finnish-ADJ-GEN.MASC language-GEN there
na vostok-e.
PRE east-PREP
There is a dialect of the Finnish language in the east.
I
tam
vs-e
govor-jat na èt-om
dialekt-e.
And there all-PL speak-2PL PRE this-PREP dialect-PREP
And there everyone speaks in this dialect.
167
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
18
М:
°Dialekt-e
da° èt-o
vse-taki ↑fin-sk-ij
jazyk.
Dialect-PREP yes 3SG-NEU however
Finnish-ADJ-MASC language
Dialect, yes it is, however, the Finnish language.
The next excerpt is an example of the continuations that comprise a
longer unit. The participants are discussing a prominent local man who
knew many languages and who was one of the founders of the literary
language. In line 4, H states that that man graduated from a madrasa and
knew Arabic, Russian, and Azerbaijani. In line 5, M summarises the
previous turn by saying vse jazyki on znal mnogo jazyki, ‘All the languages
he knew many languages’. However, M’s turn is rather overwhelming in its
grandiosity, but it also reflects how much he respects the man. In contrast,
H’s second-pair part in line 6 is more subtle, but it also indicates his respect
as he states naši dagenstanskie jazyki znal, ‘our Dagestani languages knew’.
(80) DM 48. <24:17>
01
М:
02
H:
03
N:
04
H:
05
06
М: →
07
H:
Da da ↑hiv-sk-ij
on.
Yes yes Hiv-ADJ-MASC 3SG
Yes he is from HIV.
S
Hiva tam
tam
↑hiv-sk-ij
čelovek.
PRE Hiv there there Hiv-ADJ-MASC man
From HIV there there HIV man.
A:.
VOC
Da: (.) on okonči-l-ø
medrese.
Yes (.) 3SG graduate-PST-MASC madrasa
Yes he graduated from a madrasa.
On è: zna-l-ø
èto-t
a↑rab-sk-ij
jazyk
on
3SG VOC know-PST-MASC this-MASC Arab-ADJ-MASC language 3SG
zna-l-ø
èto-t
nu: ja ja i
govor-ju
know-PST-MASC this-MASC well 1SG 1SG and talk-1SG
↑rus-sk-ij
jazyk
zna-l-ø
Russian-ADJ-MASC language know-PST-MASC
azerbaj↑džan-sk-ij
zna-l-ø,
Azerbaidjan-ADJ-MASC know-PST-MASC
He knew this Arab language, he knew this well I say he knew
the Russian language and knew the Azeri language,
Vs-e
jazyk-i
on zna-l-ø
mnogo jazyk-i.
All-PL language-PL 3SG know-PST-MASC many language-PL
All languages, he knew many languages.
Naš-i
da- dagenstan-sk-ie ja↓zyk-i
zna-l-ø.
1PL.POSS-PL da- Dagestani-ADJ-PL language-PL know-PST-MASC
Our Dagestanian languages he knew.
In the next two examples, the recipient rephrases what was previously
stated and begins his turn with the double affirmative particle da da, ‘yes
yes’.
168
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
(81) IS 64. <37:01>
01
H:
02
J: →
03
H:
No
bol’-- bol’šinstvo ↓ljud-i
kotor-ye ja zna-ju
Well maj-- majority
people-PL who-PL
1SG know-1SG
>voobšče< otnos-jat-sja k
è: k
obučeni-ju
v
in:general relate-3PL-PRT PRE VOC PRE learning-DAT PRE
universitet-ø kak by è: formal’nost-i
university-ACC how PRT VOC formality-GEN
kak-oj-to.
something-GEN.FEM-CLI
Well the majority of people whom I know in general have an
opinion that studying at the university is some kind of
formality.
Da: da nado
čto-to
↑dela-t’.
Yes yes have.to something-CLI do-INF
Yes, have to do something.
Da nado
čto-to
dela-t’ ja ne mog-u
Yes have.to something-CLI do-INF 1SG NEG can-1SG
side-t’ doma.
sit-INF at.home
Yes, have to do something--I cannot just sit at home.
(82) IS 65. <13:43>
01
H:
02
03
04
05
J:
H:
06
H:
07
J: →
08
H:
Daže esli on ne ume-et.
Even if
3SG NEG can-3SG
Even if he cannot.
On tebe
skaž-et @da ja
ume-ju@.
3SG 2SG.DAT say-3SG yes 1SG can-1SG
He will say to you “yes I can”.
@Da ja vsë
ume-ju@
Yes 1SG everything-NEU can-1SG
Yes I can do everything.
((laughter))
I
potom on (-) s
ošibka u
ni-h
↑ah.
And then 3SG (-) PRE mistake PRE 3PL-GEN VOC
And then he they make a mistake.
(1)
(-) No on k
tebe
voobšče
ne: sovet
(-) But 3SG PRE 2SG.DAT in:general NEG advice
ne-prost-o.
NEG-simple-ADV
Well he you in general the advice is not simple.
Da da sam luč-še
zna-et.
Yes yes self good-COMP know-3SG
Yes yes he himself knows better.
Ugu.
Uhhuh.
As we have witnessed in the previous examples, candidate
understandings do not necessarily halt the progression of the conversation.
Instead, this entails a potential interpretation of the previous turns. It also
projects a confirmation as the next relevant turn and therefore functions as a
169
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
first-pair part. The continuation can be a response particle, or it can consist
of a longer unit.
7.2 Noun phrases
An examination of the collaborative productions revealed that the structure
of those productions was analysed in terms of preliminary and final
components. The preliminary components were produced by the first
speaker and the final component by the second speaker. The completion was
typically undertaken by producing one word, and the preliminary component
projected the form of it. In other words, the offered component was adjusted
prosodically, syntactically, and interactionally to the preliminary
component.
There are also cases somewhat similar to those collaborative productions,
but they nevertheless display some differences. In the following example, S
is a Spanish woman who is translating a public speech into Finnish. The
point of the speech is that there are different immigrant groups in Finland
who work in the mass media. At the end of her turn, S describes that it is
important that they do that work but she does not get to end of her turn
before speaker G gets involved and produces a possible reading of the
previous turn. There is a micropause in S’s turn which makes the completion
possible. They jointly produce a structure maahanmuuttaja tarvitsee omaa
ääni, ‘an immigrant needs his own voice’. However, the completion of ääni
is in the nominative case although the previous construction would inquire a
completion in partitive case ään-tä, ‘voice-PTV’. Speaker S accepts the
completion and she repeats it.
(83) WN 2. <34:58>
01
S:
02
03
G: →
Mutta nykyään hän ↑sano-o että totta kai että
But
nowadays 3SG say-3SG that of.course that
ulkomaalaise-t teke-e tärkeä-ä
(.) ↑tieto
e: >työ<
foreigner-PL
do-3SG important-PTV (.) knowledge VOC work
massmedia-n
kanssa,
massmedia-GEN with
But nowadays she says that of course foreigners do important
knowledge oh work with massmedia.
Koska
varma että maahanmuuttaj-i-a ↑tarvitse-e oma-a [(.)
Because sure that immigrant-PL-PTV
need-3SG
own-PRT
Well sure that immigrants need their own
[Ääni.
Voice.
170
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
04
S:
Ääni joo sitten Internet on
↑hyvä tie missä me voi-mme
Voice yeah then
Internet be.3SG good way where 1PL can-1PL
laitta-a meidä-n ↑ääni ja sitten me voi-mme löytä-ä
put-INF 1PL-GEN voice and then
1PL can-1PL find-INF
<erilais-i-a
ihmis-i-ä>
kene-n kanssa me voi-mme
different-PL-PTV people-PL-PTV who-GEN with
1PL can-1PL
teh-dä verkko-j-a.
do-INF net-PL-PTV
Yes voice. Then the Internet is a good way where we can use
our voice and then we can find different people with whom we
can network.
Apart from the completion not being in the correct case, it is not solely
backward-oriented, but rather could have been interpreted as adapting to the
previous context. They are discussing the immigrants in Finland and during
her turn, S has discussed the mass media. In order to attain more positive
publicity and succeed in getting their own issues recognized in the public
debate, the immigrants need access to those media that could enable it. This
projects the word ääni, ‘voice’, which is a metaphor that is used in different
contexts. Speaker S then formulates the concept further and states that the
Internet would be a good forum for the immigrants to get their voice heard.
The Internet would also make it possible for immigrants to network.
Example 84 is similar in the sense that the candidate understanding is
projected and is not backward-oriented. This example also focusses on the
immigrants who live in Finland, but from a different perspective. The
participants are discussing closing the seminars of different nongovernmental organisations. In line 3, speaker D states that perhaps it would
not be a good idea to pool the resources of different organisations because
seminars might become confusing. In the middle of her turn, she expresses
her opinion by producing the following negative interrogative: eikö me
mennä, ‘don’t we go’, (Heritage 2002).
(84) PM 6. <40:55>
01
02
03
D:
Se on
mu-n
oma mielipide.
3SG be.3SG 1SG-GEN own opinion.
That is my own opinion.
syyt-- yhdistet-ään sii-hen teidä-n oma seminaari
prin-- connect-4
3SG-ILL 2PL-GEN own seminar
ei-kö
me men-nä vähän pois sii-tä meiä-n teema-sta.
NEG.3SG-Q 1PL go-INF little away it-ELA 1PL-GEN theme-ELA
But if we connect that to your own seminar do not we go a
little far away from our theme.
171
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
04
F:
05
D:
06
F: →
07
F:
08
D: →
09
F:
Ei: ei (-) koska
se on
se .h ö
<päätavoite> että
NEG NEG (-) because 3SG be.3SG 3SG .h VOC main:goal
that
me-kin puhut-aan vapaaehtoisuut-ta ja maahanmuuttaja että
1PL-CLI talk-4
voluntary-PTV
and immigrant
that
miten se vapaaehtoisuus vo-isi
palvel-la (.) tai
how
3SG voluntary
can-CON.3SG serve-INF (.) or
palvel-la vai m(h)iten [sano-a se-n
että .h
serve-INF or how
say-INF 3SG-GEN that .h
No no because it is a main goal that we also talk about
volunteering and that immigrant that how that volunteering
could serve or serve or how to say it that
[Joo.
Yeah.
miten maahanmuuttaja vo-isi
(.) ä
miten se ↑autta
how
immigrant
can-CON.3SG (.) VOC how
3SG help.3SG
maahanmuuttaja kotoutumise-en.
immigrant
integration-ILL
How an immigrant could how it could help an immigrant to
integrate.
Että: se on
se,
That 3SG be.3SG 3SG
That it is that,
Sii-hen ↓toiminto-on.
3SG-ILL action-ILL
To that action.
Joo kyllä.
Yeah yes.
In the next example, the participants are discussing the school system of
the Tajik schools. Speaker N is inquiring about exams and how they are
administered in schools. In line 5, speaker E begins to count the different
subjects that the pupils are required to take exams in: istorija, ‘history’, and
jazyk, ‘language’. She also produced the word raznye, ‘different’, twice
during her turn. Then in line 6, N formulates an umbrella concept that would
account for all these different subjects and she produces the phrase obschie
znanija kak by, ‘general knowledge sort of’. This utterance functions as a
first-pair part and it is confirmed in line 7 as a second-pair part.
(85) TI 12. <16:17>
01
H:
02
E:
Aga i
↑èto-t
èkzamen by-l-ø
(.) .h
Aha and 3SG-MASC test
be-PST-MASC (.) .h
[nado
by-l-o
t-- èto-t
↑pis’menn-yj
have.to be-PST-NEU VOC 3SG-MASC written-MASC
And this test, it was in a written form?
é
VOC
ékzamen [a:?
test
VOC
[Nas,
1PL.GEN
Our,
172
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
03
04
05
E:
06
N: →
07
E:
[Pis’menn-yj by-l-ø
da vs-ë
èt-o
na (-)
Written-MASC be-PST-MASC yes all-NEU this-NEU PRE (-)
èto-t
(1) °kak vam
skaza-t’°.
3SG-MASC (1) how 2PL.DAT say-INF
There was in a written form. All was this how to say it to
you.
(2)
Est’
na pjat-om
(-) nu
razn-ye
èt-i (.)
Be.3SG PRE five-ORD.PREP.MASC (-) well different-PL this-PL
(.) nu
istorija (-) jazyk
èt-o
nu
ra-well history (-) language 3SG-NEU well di-↑razn-ye
èt-o
by-l-ø,
different-PL 3SG-NEU be-PST-MASC
In the fifth grade there are well these different well
history, language it is well different it was,
↑Obšč-ie
zna[ni-ja
kak by.
General-PL knowledge-PL how PRT
Like general knowledge.
[Obšč-ie
znani-ja
da:.
General-PL knowledge-PL yes
Like general knowledge.
(86) TI 35. <16:13>
01
E:
02
03
04
05
N:
06
E:
No
potom e↑ščë u nas
by-l-i
my uči-l-i-s’
Well then yet PRE 1PL.GEN be-PST-PL 1PL study-PST-PL-REFL
do: odi:nnadcat-ogo
dvenadcat-ogo
čas-ov.
PRE eleven-ORD.GEN.MASC twelve-ORD.GEN.MASC hour-PL.GEN
Well then we had we studied until eleven or twelve.
Potom kto hote-l-ø
(.) é
>kto kak-ie roditel-i<
Then who want-PST-MASC (.) VOC who what-PL parent-PL
ho↑te-l-i
.h posle obed-a
u
nas
want-PST-PL .h after lunch-GEN PRE 1PL.GEN
prodlënka by-l-ø. .h
continuation be-PST-MASC
Then who wanted, or parents wanted, after lunch we had a
continuation.
Pro↑dlënka èt-o
.h prodolženie urok-a.
Continuation 3SG-NEU .h continuation lesson-GEN
Continuation it is a continuation of a lesson.
My [tam
dela-l-i
1PL there do-PST-PL
We did there
[A:.
VOC
»domašn-ye zada:ni-ja my tam
uči:-l-is’
home-PL
work-PL
1PL there study-PST-PL
my tam
risova:-l-i [vs-ë
vs-ë
vs-ë.
1PL there draw-PST-PL all-NEU all-NEU all-NEU
homework we drew there.
173
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
07
N:
08
E:
09
N: →
10
E:
11
N:
[A
vy s
èt-imi
s
VOC 2PL PRE this-INST
PRE
(Musaraf) i (Musafa[r-om),
(Musaraf) and Musafar-INST
You were with these Musaraf and Musaraf,
[Da: u
nas
taka-ja v- é: èt-o
Yes PRE 1SG.GEN such-FEM VOC
this-NEU
by-l-o
čto [my(-),
be-PST-NEU that 1PL (-)
Yes we had that kind of. It was that we,
[Dopolnitel’n-ye.
Extra-PL
Extra.
Dopolnitel’n-ye [urok-i
by-l-i
da.
Extra-PL
lesson-PL be-PST-PL yes
Extra lessons were, yes.
[Aga.
Aha.
7.3 Summary
Compared to collaborative productions and word searches, candidate
understandings stand somewhere in the middle. When compared to
collaborative productions, candidate understandings do not need to be
completely backward-oriented, as the recipient can use them to rephrase the
content of the previous turns and to introduce new elements to the
conversation. Candidate understandings are also projected, but not as strictly
as the collaborative productions. Interactionally, these understandings are
used to check the recipient’s interpretation of the prior and to maintain
mutual understanding. However, they are not prosodically or syntactically
adapted to the previous utterance. They can be also preceded by hesitations
or by other perturbations signs.
When compared to word searches, candidate understandings exhibit
some similarities. A candidate understanding functions as the first pair part
of an adjacency pair, which means that it projects a confirmation as the next
turn. Moreover, after a candidate understanding has been produced, the first
speaker can evaluate its appropriateness. This can be undertaken either by
repeating the offered understanding, or by producing a particle. Whereas
there were few instances of not taking a stance on the produced
understanding, when the participants moved on directly to a new topic, this
was possible.
It is interesting that there were proportionally more candidate
understandings in the Russian than in the Finnish data. There could be
various explanations with one being that the participants in the Russian
174
7 Candidate understandings – somewhere in the middle?
conversations were more competent in the spoken lingua franca. That means
that they have more opportunities to reformulate or paraphrase previous
turns. Conversely, if a participant knows only one way of expressing
something, he or she will adhere to that pattern only. However, if two or
more participants are approximately at the same level, they can orient to
linguistic structures and are therefore able to produce them collaboratively.
The word-search sequences reveal that the participants were willing to help
each other.
175
8 Conclusion and implications for further study
In this chapter, I will first reiterate the central findings of this study
(subchapter 8.1). The second subchapter (8.2) is devoted to presenting the
possible methods of conducting lingua franca research concerning Finnish
and Russian languages in the future. Future themes for research are based on
features that are characteristic of non-native interaction on the basis of the
data used in this study. Those features have not been systematically
observed or analysed, but they have arisen otherwise from the data and they
need to be analysed more thoroughly.
8.1 Collaborative productions and word searches
This study concentrated on jointly produced structures by two or more
participants in lingua franca interaction. The lingua francas were Finnish
and Russian. However, few studies have been conducted on these languages
as lingua francas. Thus, this study contributes to the research tradition of
these languages. While the Finnish language is a member of the Finnic
group of the Uralic family of languages, Russian belongs to the Slavic
branch of the Indo-European languages. Although Finnish and Russian
belong to different language groups, they share some characteristics (for
instance, the absence of the article and comparatively free word order) and
these make them more similar in some respects than some languages within
the Indo-European family. In this respect, they also differ from the lingua
franca that is used the most worldwide, English.
More specifically, the focus of this analysis was primarily on word
searches and collaborative productions. These categories were not defined in
advance, but they arose instead from the data. This suggests that the actual
choice of research theme was made only after some recordings were had
been collected. This type of research is based on a methodology called
conversation analysis (abbreviated CA; Heritage 1996 [1984], Psathas 1995,
Sacks et al. 1974). In other words, the main objective for collecting the data
was to obtain spoken Finnish and Russian lingua franca material, whereas
the actual choice of theme for the research was made when some of the
material had already been collected. Thus, the notion of ‘lingua franca
interactions’ was taken as an analytical construct (Firth 1996: 241, Schegloff
1991). This type of CA-oriented research leaves the decision-making to the
participants. The result is that the researcher does not need to make the
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8 Conclusions and implications for further study
hypothetical classifications, as he or she can rely on the participants’ actual
linguistic behaviour. (Kurhila 2006: 32.) This also means that all the details
of interaction can be important, and nothing in the analysis can be omitted as
irrelevant or accidental (Heritage 1996 [1984]: 237–238, Psathas 1995: 2,
Schegloff 1997: 502). Another methodological tool for conducting research
was interactional linguistics. One of the goals of interactional linguistics is
to obtain a better understanding of the types of influences that languages and
interaction have on each other (Couper-Kuhlen & Selting 2001: 3). When
studying typologically different languages such as Finnish and Russian,
interactional linguistics research attempts to demonstrate that different
languages might use different linguistic resources to address the common
problems that arise in interaction (cf. ibid. 8).
Word searches are usually attributed to part of the linguistic behaviour of
language users who are not yet competent in a foreign language. However,
participants in conversations can also become engaged in other activities
that consist of two or more participants, such as collaborative productions.
These two activities have been studied as constituting very similar
phenomena, but certain characteristics differentiate collaborative
productions from word searches. In the data, there were prototypical cases
of both of the above-mentioned structures, i.e. word searches and
collaborative productions, but different types of boundary cases also
occurred.
A prototypical collaborative production consisted of a preliminary part
that was produced without any specific hesitations or perturbations and the
final component that fitted syntactically, prosodically and semantically to
the preliminary component. For example, a preliminary part could consist of
a subject + verb combination as well as a final component that is a
complement (in a broad sense), or the line between components could be
situated between a subject and a verb. The latter cases were in contrast to
previous research results. For example, according to Helasvuo (2003), it is
more likely “to have an intonation unit boundary between the verb and the
object than between the subject and the verb.” This seems to imply that
concerning the most common grouping of constituents would be the subject
and verb rather than the verb and. (see also Helasvuo 2004: 1332.) Although
word order is often characterised as being relatively free in both Finnish and
Russian, in Finnish spoken discourse data, a clear preference exists for
subject – verb ordering (Helasvuo 2001). Thus, with respect to colloquial
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8 Conclusions and implications for further study
spoken Finnish, the ordering of the elements was the same, but the elements
were grouped differently.
A prototypical word search was initiated with pauses, hesitations or with
specific questions. In these cases, the co-participant was considered to be a
competent partner. The initiation affected the ongoing conversation; it
caused perturbations and finding the correct word could have become what
the participants were actually doing. In general, participants did not exhibit
problems with linguistic structures in the sense, for example, so that they
would have not known how to decline a noun, but the problem was that they
did not know the noun they wanted to decline. Thus, the number of Finnish
or Russian case endings or verbal morphology was not necessarily the factor
that created problems.
With respect to both collaborative productions and word searches, the
initiator of the word search or the speaker who produced the preliminary
component had an opportunity to evaluate the offered word or the final
component that had been produced by the recipient. The initiator could
accept them by repeating them, by producing a discourse particle or by
moving on in his or her speech. It is important to note that overtly expressed
rejections were rare. For example, if the first offered word was not the one
that the first speaker had in mind, he or she would continue the search with
the co-participant. The boundary cases consisted of those instances in which
participants were co-constructing such grammatical information as the verb
+ object constructions. In those cases, the participants could negotiate the
appropriate form.
When comparing collaborative production and word searches, the
candidate understandings were somewhere in the. It is interesting that in my
data, proportionally more candidate understandings occurred in the Russian
data than in the Finnish data. There could be a variety of explanations to
account for this difference. One could be that the participants in the Russian
conversations were more competent in their spoken lingua franca. This
means that they had more possibilities to reformulate or to paraphrase
previous turns. And the reverse was also possible: if a participant knew only
one way to state something, he or she could continue with that pattern and
only use that repeatedly. This also means that once the recognisability is
established, the production of jointly produced structures becomes easier.
Interactionally, candidate understandings were used for checking the
recipient’s interpretation of the prior and for maintaining mutual
understanding. When these understandings are compared to collaborative
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8 Conclusions and implications for further study
productions, understandings needed not be completely backward-oriented,
but by using them, the recipient could have rephrased the content of the
previous turns and introduce new elements into the conversation. They were
also projected, but not as strictly as in the collaborative productions and they
were not prosodically or syntactically adapted to the previous utterance.
When compared to word searches, they shared some similarities. They
could have been preceded with hesitations or other perturbations signs.
From the perspective of sequentiality, a candidate understanding functioned
as a first-pair part of an adjacency pair, which means that it projected a
confirmation as the next turn. After a candidate understanding was
produced, the first speaker could evaluate its appropriateness so that he or
she had the same rights either as the initiator of the word-search sequence,
or as the first speaker of the collaborative production. This could be
achieved either by repeating the offered understanding, or by producing a
discourse particle. Participants could also move straight to a new topic, but
this rarely occurred in the data.
All three ways emphasized that the participants wanted to cooperate with
each other and that although the language used was foreign to all
participants, the interaction need not to have been problematic. The situation
was actually the opposite; it seemed that the non-native speakers could use
language in a creative way. However, this did not mean that, for example,
grammatical rules were neglected. The participants also searched for
grammatical forms and were willing to help each other. As was evident in
the examples, different types of collaborative productions could occur in one
short extract. On the one hand, this meant that the extract must have been
analysed thoroughly and meticulously, but on the other hand, this was
evidence that the conversational participants were continuously following
the conversation.
In NNS interaction, no one can be said to be more knowledgeable than
other participants. Although in most cases, the distinction could have been
made as to whether the search was of a lexical item or whether it involved
some grammatical issue, this distinction might not have been relevant.
However, it was striking that there were grammatical searches involving
both the current speaker and the recipient only in the Finnish data. When
considering the grammatical structures of both languages, it is evident that
both languages have the same type of overall structure. Traditionally
thinking, both are Subject + Verb + Object (SVO) languages and they both
possess a moderate number of morphological categories in declining nouns
179
8 Conclusions and implications for further study
or in verbal morphology. In this sense, grammatical searches are possible in
different positions during utterance formation. Intuitively, grammatical
searches may appear to be an essential part of interaction in both languages,
but only the participants in the Finnish data relied on other participants when
they hesitated on grammatical issues.
From a cross-linguistic perspective, the difference was also interesting, as
it shows that lingua franca users were able to mobilize the resources of
languages other than their mother tongues. This also contributes to the
research in interactional linguistics research because it confirms that
different languages indeed have different means to solve the problems that
arise in interaction. The difference might be explained by the different
environments in which languages have been learnt. Considering the Finnish
language, the lingua franca speakers were usually adults who had learnt
Finnish in different language courses, a factor that could have contributed to
their orienting more to grammatical issues. Most of the speakers had moved
to Finland and thus Finnish language had not been a part of their life before.
The lingua franca speakers of Russian had had different histories. In a
certain sense, the Russian material was versatile because it consisted of the
data of both those who had learnt Russian in their adult life and those who
had had Russian language in their lives since childhood. Furthermore,
historical circumstances affected the differences between these languages.
For example, the lingua franca speakers of Russian might have established a
more native-speaker relationship to the Russian language, which means that
they did not consider the grammatical appropriateness to be important as the
lingua franca users of Finnish language. (See, e.g. Kurhila 2006: 132–133.)
As mentioned previously in this analysis, when concerning the Finnish
data, there were some cases arose in the Finnish data in which the
grammatical appropriateness surfaced in the conversational so that it that
caused disturbances in the ongoing conversation. In grammatical searches,
the participants could have searched together for the correct form and decide
on it by cooperating even though the form might have been ungrammatical
in the native language. In these cases, the grammar could have been
interpreted as real-time phenomenon (Hopper 1987: 141), which means that
syntactic structures unfolded in real time (Auer & Pfänder 2011: 3, Hopper
2011: 27). Emergence of clauses as syntactic units were achieved through
mutual activity by the participants (Helasvuo 2001b: 33–35).
I have emphasised the cooperative nature of lingua franca interaction and
have not made observations on perhaps one of the obvious research areas:
180
8 Conclusions and implications for further study
communicative failures or miscommunication (for example, see Firth 1996,
House 1999, and Mauranen 2006b). In some of the cases concerning
prolonged search sequences or unsolved cases, a communicative failure was
possible. However, the number of those instances was not high. This might
be explained by the overall behaviour of the participants. They might be
eager to monitor the co-participant’s speech and to attempt to avoid
problems beforehand. The cooperative nature of conversations also suggests
that the participants were willing to act together in order to ensure a smooth
conversational flow. Even though the language that the participants used
was not their mother tongue, they were able to cooperate and avoid
misunderstandings. In this sense, the results of this study are in line with
Russian scholars who have reported that miscommunication or
communicative failures are as common in interaction between friends and
family members as they are in intercultural interaction (Ermakova &
Zemskaja 1993).
8.2 Further research
One of the obvious future research areas is the actual language form that is
used in lingua franca conversations. Although the focus of this study was
not primarily on the actual language form, some hypotheses can be drawn
on the basis of the data presented in this study. While different types of
word-search sequences occur in the data, the nominative case or the
infinitive form of the verb dominated. These are referred to as the basic
forms, or the dictionary forms. There are three explanations for the
occurrence of these basic forms. First, the sequence may have been initiated
so that it required this type of basic form only, and other possibilities being
that either the offered word was in the nominative case, or the verb was in
the infinitive. After the offer, the initiator of the sequence had an opportunity
to decline the noun in the correct case. For example, in the Finnish
examples, the question mikä se on, ‘what is it’, usually indicates that the
searched word is a noun and that it can be produced in the nominative case
as a solution to the search.
With special reference to the Russian language, certain categories might
undergo changes in Russian lingua franca interaction. Firstly, the
grammatical form of the noun fluctuates after a cardinal number. Another
category that is liable to change is gender. For example, the third-person
pronoun, which usually reflects the referent’s gender, might be used
differently. When discussing the semantics of the language, one tendency in
181
8 Conclusions and implications for further study
lingua franca interaction is to use of semantically close words and the
participants can even use two semantically close verbs. While from a native
speaker’s perspective this use of the verb might be inappropriate, the nonnative speakers accept the usage without hesitation.
One of the interesting tendencies in lingua franca interaction is the
connection between lexico-grammatical correctness and communicative
effectiveness (for example, see Hülmbauer 2009). The utterances that the
interlocutors produced were typically lexico-grammatically appropriate
(either formulated through individual or joint effort), but they might have
sounded rather odd. In other words, a native speaker would probably not use
those particular constructions even though they are grammatically suitable
and no problems were encountered, such as in the choice of nouns.
As pointed out in the introduction, both Finnish and Russian differ
structurally from the lingua franca that is most used, English. In terms of
morphological typology, English as a lingua franca is analytic, which is in
line with the linguistic structure of Standard English. Furthermore, the
different linguistic backgrounds of the speakers do not necessarily imply
that the structure of the used lingua franca would change. Rather, it seems
that the speakers are able to mobilize the different resources of the spoken
lingua franca, but they differ in their usage from native speakers. When
participants utilise resources, they are also negotiate the language use (Cogo
2009, Jenkins 2003). Those resources include the controversial use of the
third-person singular –s, and the extended use of the progressive –ing verb
forms. Speakers also tend to insert redundant prepositions and overuse
certain words that have high semantic generality (do, have, make).
(Björkman 2009; Cogo & Dewey 2006; Dewey 2009; Ranta 2009;
Seidlhofer 2004, 2011.)
In terms of morphological typology, Finnish and Russian resemble
synthetic languages. However, the same observation is also valid for English
as a lingua franca. The overall structure of the languages that are used
remains the same. In other words, the participants were able to use the
spoken lingua franca and its resources in speech production. In some
instances, this was accomplished through joint activity when the participants
formulated utterances together in order to attain mutual understanding.
However, additional data are needed to ensure that the observation on the
synthetic language type is valid.
As I have mentioned in the introduction, the historical backgrounds are
different for the Finnish and Russian languages as lingua francas. Finnish as
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8 Conclusions and implications for further study
a lingua franca has not had a long history. In contrast, the Russian language
reached its pinnacle as a lingua franca during the Soviet era, but the
language lost its importance after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
However, the future may hold same progression for both languages, but
for different reasons. The number of those who use Finnish language as a
foreign language is rising due to the rising number of immigrants. The
Russian language may regain its status as a language of interethnic
communication both in Russia and in what is referred to as the Near Foreign
countries. Concerning both Finnish and Russian, bilingual and multilingual
speakers also pose challenges to language education.
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kieleen.
SAVIJÄRVI,
Keskustelunanalyyttinen tutkimus toisen kielen oppimisesta kielikylpypäiväkodin
arkitilanteissa. Doctoral dissertation. University of Helsinki.
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198
Appendix
Symbols used in transcription
.
falling intonation
,
slightly falling intonation
?
rising intonation
↑
next word or syllable pronounced higher than surrounding speech
↓
next word or syllable pronounced lower than surrounding speech
[
the beginning of overlap
]
the end of overlap
:
lengthening of sound
°
soft voice
<>
slow speech
><
fast speech
haluavat
emphasis
.hh
inhalation
(h)
exhalation within a word
@@
laughter, smile
(.)
micropause (less than 0.2 seconds)
(1)
pause (length of the pause indicated in brackets)
»
latching
--
cut-off word
LEIPÄÄ
loud voice
(-)
word in doubt
ʔ
glottal sound
Grammatical glosses
1SG, 2SG, 3SG first person singular (ending or personal pronoun), etc.
1PL, 2PL, 3PL first person plural (ending or personal pronoun), etc.
4 passive person ending
ABL ablative (‘from’)
ACC accusative
199
Appendix
ADE adessive (‘at, on’)
ADJ adjectivizing derivational suffix
ADV adverb
ALL allative (‘to’)
CLI clitic
COMP comparative
CON conditional mood
DAT dative
ELA elative (‘out of, from’)
ESS essive
FEM feminine
GEN genitive
ILL illative (‘into, to’)
IMP imperative
INE inessive (‘in’)
INF infinitive
INSTR instrumental
MASC masculine
NEG negation
NEU neuter
PASS passive
PCP participle
PL plural
PRE preposition
PREP prepositional
PRT particle
PST past tense
PTV partitive (‘part of’)
PX possessive suffix
Q question clitic
REFL reflexive
TRANS translative (‘into’, ‘for’)
VOC vocalism
200