Stivers2010a
| Stivers2010a | |
|---|---|
| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Stivers2010a |
| Author(s) | Tanya Stivers |
| Title | An overview of the question–response system in American English conversation |
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| Tag(s) | EMCA, Question-response system, American English, Questions, Polar (yes/no) questions, Content (WH) questions, Conversation |
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| Year | 2010 |
| Language | English |
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| Month | |
| Journal | Journal of Pragmatics |
| Volume | 42 |
| Number | 10 |
| Pages | 2772–2781 |
| URL | Link |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.pragma.2010.04.011 |
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Abstract
This article, part of a 10 language comparative project on question–response sequences, discusses these sequences in American English conversation. The data are video-taped spontaneous naturally occurring conversations involving two to five adults. Relying on these data I document the basic distributional patterns of types of questions asked (polar, Q-word or alternative as well as sub-types), types of social actions implemented by these questions (e.g., repair initiations, requests for confirmation, offers or requests for information), and types of responses (e.g., repetitional answers or yes/no tokens). I show that declarative questions are used more commonly in conversation than would be suspected by traditional grammars of English and questions are used for a wider range of functions than grammars would suggest. Finally, this article offers distributional support for the idea that responses that are better “fitted” with the question are preferred.
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