Syntactic and actional characteristics of Finnish että-clauses

This article examines the Finnish että as a complementizer and as an initial and final particle in conversation. The article shows that että is not a subordinator either syntactically or actionally. Instead, the particle että, as well as the formulaic phrases (complement-taking constructions) it is a part of, implement actions in service of the main action underway. They manage the ongoing talk strategically by regulating the participant framework, and are oriented to by the participants. Therefore, neither the CTP että is a part of, nor the particle että, are actionally subordinate to the talk following että. However, when että functions as a turn-final particle, the turn in which it appears can be seen as a dependent action from the perspective of some previous activity.