Abstract:The paper introduces a type of joint utterance construction in Japanese, in which
two independent sentential-level units are amalgamated, which has hitherto received
little attention in the literature. Unlike traditional joint utterance construction
where one speaker maintains authority over the syntactic structure of the forthcoming
continuation and the other accedes to this, thereby constituting a single TCU (turn
constructional unit), our examples … Show more
Since Harvey Sacks’ early observations on collaborative sentence-making, the joint production of turns has become a topic of abiding interest amongst conversation analysts. This paper offers a thematic review of the literature by looking into a number of issues surrounding joint productions, including their forms and interactional uses, major types and sub-types, syntactic and pragmatic contributions, unity and variation across languages, and reasons for its inherent fascination as a conversational practice. By re-examining a number of key concepts and distinctions, including completion, extension, projection, continuation, collaboration, and affiliation/disaffiliation, the paper offers a critical assessment of their perspicuity and usefulness for our understanding of joint production as a general phenomenon (which includes both co-completions and increments). In the second part of the paper, it is suggested that two further concepts be added to the analyst’s toolbox, namely, ‘parties’ (Schegloff 1995) and ‘voices’ (Bakhtin 1981). It is argued that with these notions, one would be better placed to explain the curious status of joint productions as at once collaborative and yet at the same time potentially transformative or even subversive. The overriding goal is conceptual clarification of this field, which hopefully will help place further research on firmer ground.
Cross-linguistic studies on co-production of syntactic units and compound sentence formats have found that the location of predicates affects the projectability of the language, in that languages like English allow early projections while languages like Japanese later projections. In Mandarin Chinese, we found that syntactic parallelism often occurs before co-constructions, impacting the projectability of syntactic structures in one way or another. Based on the theories of dialogic syntax (Du Bois 2007, 2014) and the principles of interactional linguistics, this study explores the relationship between syntactic parallelism and co-production of syntactic structures across turns. The co-production of four syntactic and sentential structures were closely examined, namely, Copula V + Complement, (be) Adjectival Predicate, the conditional IF X THEN Y construction (如果 ruguo……就/会 jiu/hui…), and compound sentences with to-clause of purpose. Also observed is the emergent new sequence as interactionally relevant syntax. Upon inspection, we found that turn units with parallel syntactic structures may help narrow down the category of the projected final component, thus inspiring the second speaker to come in early and jointly complete the syntax-in-progress. Apart from co-producing syntax-in-progress, co-produced structures can also develop into interactionally relevant sequences with independent internal structures, thereby executing new social actions.
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