Taking a stance and getting on with it: the form and function of the Finnish finite clausal extraposition construction

Abstract

This paper concerns a particular grammatical construction, extraposition, and its use for assessments at points of transition between activities and topics by speakers of Finnish in ordinary conversation. A basic assumption taken here is that "recurrent clausal constructions of a language are social action formats for that language" (Thompson 2006), and that grammatical constructions such as clause types are learned and therefore routinized responses to certain types of interactional contingencies, and, at the same time, emergent from the current local context (Hopper 1987;Helasvuo 2001).The paper combines the two central perspectives developed in this issue, sequential design and dialogicality, with the study of grammar-in-interaction. It shows that the grammatical form of the Finnish extraposition construction emerges from its use by speakers for the creation of intersubjectivity through reproduction of prior talk and for the projection of stance taking to follow.

10. Discourse Markers

“…The initial fragment regularly expresses the speaker's stance towards the upcoming utterance (Thompson 2002: 125). Laury (2012), in turn, shows how the Finnish extraposition construction (se oli niin kataala temppu kun naisil oli nii hauska ['It was such a dirty trick that the women had so much fun']) is used for taking a generic evaluative stance, especially at transition points between topics and at the ends of stories. Laury (2012), in turn, shows how the Finnish extraposition construction (se oli niin kataala temppu kun naisil oli nii hauska ['It was such a dirty trick that the women had so much fun']) is used for taking a generic evaluative stance, especially at transition points between topics and at the ends of stories.…”