6 - Reacting Moves: A Case-Study of Response Markers

Summary

Chapter 6 presents a case-study of response markers and introduces a syntactic analysis within the framework of the Interactional Spine Hypothesis. Response markers are units of language which are used to respond to previous moves. I show that the target of confirmation can differ depending on the syntactic context. Response markers show the same pattern of multi-functionality as confirmationals do, providing evidence that there is a system in place which regulates both types of units of language. I compare my analysis to previous analyses of response markers and show that none of them are adequate because they restrict their attention to response markers used as answers to polar questions. This is, however, only one use of response markers: they can also be used to express agreement, acknowledge the addressee’s belief, or simply indicate that the responder is listening. The interactional spine predicts precisely these functions. I further show that response markers can be modified prosodically to express all kinds of emotional content and I develop an analysis for this pattern.