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Repetitional Responses in Korean Conversation

Abstract

This dissertation investigates repetitional utterances mobilized in response to yes/no polar questions in Korean conversation. In an effort to keep the initiating action constant, the questions were restricted to those that primarily request confirmation. Repetitional responses in such sequences can be categorized into two types: minimal repeats and non-minimal repeats. Research indicates that minimal repeats tend to promote a closure of the current sequence, with the respondents not elaborating further on the response. By doing so, the respondents signal that they have understood the question as a request for confirmation and that they will orient to the question precisely as such. Non-minimal repeats carry “extra” components that can be omitted without damaging the comprehensibility of the turn. The findings of this study have shown that these extra elements are not randomly chosen but are closely related to what the response attempts to do beyond confirming the question. Furthermore, non-minimal repeats tend to be followed by further talk from the respondents. Repetition in disaffirmative responses has also been analyzed. As a dispreferred action, repetitional responses for disconfirmation show different sequential development patterns than their affirmative counterparts. Disconfirmatory repetitional responses have thus been examined with reference to specific grammatical structures with which they are frequently deployed, such as -(nu)ntey ‘but’ and -i/ka aniko ‘{it} is not - but.’

By examining ways in which repetition comes into play in responsive turns, this dissertation demonstrates 1) the systematicity underlying the deployment of repetitional responses in Korean question-answer sequences, 2) the relationship between the forms and functions of repetitional responses, and 3) the interactional functions of repetition as a resource for question recipients to display their understanding and orientation vis-?-vis the prior question.

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