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Article published In: Chinese Language and Discourse
Vol. 17:1 (2026) ► pp.133–150

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Continuing and reopening

An interactional linguistics study of yinwei in Mandarin conversation

ORCiD logo with link | Jishou University
Published online: 17 July 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.25020.liu
Abstract
Adopting the framework of interactional linguistics and employing the methodology of conversation analysis, this study investigates the discourse-interactional functions of the causal conjunction yinwei (“because”) in naturally occurring Mandarin conversation. Moving beyond its conventional use as a marker of reason or cause, the analysis reveals two prominent interactional functions of yinwei in everyday talk: (1) continuing a pre-prior course of action to advance the speaker’s interactional agenda, and (2) reopening a previously completed telling to pursue affiliative or responsive uptake from the hearer. These findings demonstrate that yinwei functions not only as a semantic connector but also as a resource for managing conversational structure and speaker-hearer alignment. By showing how speakers strategically exploit yinwei to organize discourse and negotiate participation, this study contributes to a more nuanced and interactionally grounded understanding of causal conjunctions in Mandarin and highlights the importance of sequential positioning in shaping their discourse functions.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data and methodology
    • 2.1Data
    • 2.2Methodology
  • 3.Two types of discourse functions of yinwei
    • 3.1Continuing a pre-prior course of action to pursue an interactional agenda
    • 3.2Reopening a closed telling to pursue affiliative response
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (42)
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