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oapen-20.500.12657-313432022-02-08T12:56:51Z Chapter 12 Huh? What? – A first survey in 21 languages Baranova, Julija Enfield, N.J. S. Gísladóttir, Rósa Drew, Paul Hoymann, Gertie Brown, Penelope Blythe, Joe Gipper, Sonja Magyari, Lilla Manrique, Elizabeth Rossi, Giovanni Floyd, Simeon Dingemanse, Mark Torreira, Francisco H. Kendrick, Kobin Dirksmeyer, Tyko C. Levinson, Stephen San Roque, Lila Enfield, N.J. Dingemanse, Mark Baranova, Julija S. Gísladóttir, Rósa Drew, Paul Hoymann, Gertie Brown, Penelope Blythe, Joe Gipper, Sonja Magyari, Lilla Manrique, Elizabeth Rossi, Giovanni Floyd, Simeon Torreira, Francisco H. Kendrick, Kobin Dirksmeyer, Tyko C. Levinson, Stephen San Roque, Lila languages languages Glider competition classes Icelandic language Interjection Interrogative word Mandarin Chinese Phonetics Sign language Spoken language bic Book Industry Communication::C Language Introduction A comparison of conversation in twenty-one languages from around the world reveals commonalities and differences in the way that people do open-class other-initiation of repair (Schegloff, Jefferson, and Sacks, 1977; Drew, 1997). We find that speakers of all of the spoken languages in the sample make use of a primary interjection strategy (in English it is Huh?), where the phonetic form of the interjection is strikingly similar across the languages: a monosyllable featuring an open non-back vowel [a, æ, ə, ʌ], often nasalized, usually with rising intonation and sometimes an [h-] onset. We also find that most of the languages have another strategy for open-class other-initiation of repair, namely the use of a question word (usually “what”). Here we find significantly more variation across the languages. The phonetic form of the question word involved is completely different from language to language: e.g., English [wɑt] versus Cha'palaa [ti] versus Duna [aki]. Furthermore, the grammatical structure in which the repair-initiating question word can or must be expressed varies within and across languages. In this chapter we present data on these two strategies – primary interjections like Huh? and question words like What? – with discussion of possible reasons for the similarities and differences across the languages. We explore some implications for the notion of repair as a system, in the context of research on the typology of language use. The general outline of this chapter is as follows. We first discuss repair as a system across languages and then introduce the focus of the chapter: open-class other-initiation of repair. A discussion of the main findings follows, where we identify two alternative strategies in the data: an interjection strategy (Huh?) and a question word strategy (What?). Formal features and possible motivations are discussed for the interjection strategy and the question word strategy in order. A final section discusses bodily behavior including posture, eyebrow movements and eye gaze, both in spoken languages and in a sign language. 2018-08-08 12:55:24 2020-04-01T13:31:57Z 2017-06-19 23:55 2018-08-08 12:55:24 2020-04-01T13:31:57Z 2017-06-01 23:55:55 2018-08-08 12:55:24 2020-04-01T13:31:57Z 2020-04-01T13:31:57Z 2013 chapter 630828 OCN: 1030822554 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31343 eng application/pdf n/a 630828.pdf http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=1107002796 Cambridge University Press Conversational Repair and Human Understanding 10.26530/OAPEN_630828 10.26530/OAPEN_630828 7607a2d0-47af-490f-9d2a-8c9340266f8a 9e3a988b-662e-4d44-beec-7b023f7c46b5 7292b17b-f01a-4016-94d3-d7fb5ef9fb79 European Research Council (ERC) 1 240853 Human sociality and systems of language use FP7 Ideas: European Research Council FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific Programme: "Ideas" Implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007 to 2013) open access
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Introduction A comparison of conversation in twenty-one languages from around the world reveals commonalities and differences in the way that people do open-class other-initiation of repair (Schegloff, Jefferson, and Sacks, 1977; Drew, 1997). We find that speakers of all of the spoken languages in the sample make use of a primary interjection strategy (in English it is Huh?), where the phonetic form of the interjection is strikingly similar across the languages: a monosyllable featuring an open non-back vowel [a, æ, ə, ʌ], often nasalized, usually with rising intonation and sometimes an [h-] onset. We also find that most of the languages have another strategy for open-class other-initiation of repair, namely the use of a question word (usually “what”). Here we find significantly more variation across the languages. The phonetic form of the question word involved is completely different from language to language: e.g., English [wɑt] versus Cha'palaa [ti] versus Duna [aki]. Furthermore, the grammatical structure in which the repair-initiating question word can or must be expressed varies within and across languages. In this chapter we present data on these two strategies – primary interjections like Huh? and question words like What? – with discussion of possible reasons for the similarities and differences across the languages. We explore some implications for the notion of repair as a system, in the context of research on the typology of language use. The general outline of this chapter is as follows. We first discuss repair as a system across languages and then introduce the focus of the chapter: open-class other-initiation of repair. A discussion of the main findings follows, where we identify two alternative strategies in the data: an interjection strategy (Huh?) and a question word strategy (What?). Formal features and possible motivations are discussed for the interjection strategy and the question word strategy in order. A final section discusses bodily behavior including posture, eyebrow movements and eye gaze, both in spoken languages and in a sign language.
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