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In:Emergent Syntax for Conversation: Clausal patterns and the organization of action
Edited by Yael Maschler, Simona Pekarek Doehler, Jan Lindström and Leelo Keevallik
[Studies in Language and Social Interaction 32] 2020
► pp. 221–244

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Chapter 8
Grammatical coordination of embodied action

The Estonian ja ‘and’ as a temporal organizer of Pilates moves

 | Linköping University
Published online: 17 February 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slsi.32.08kee
Abstract
This paper looks at the Estonian coordinating conjunction ja ‘and’ in video-recorded Pilates classes, focusing on the instructors’ practical problem of making the students perform proper movement sequences. It shows how grammatical coordination emerges within a multimodal activity in which the instructor’s talk both directs and responds to student performance. As opposed to the frequent juxtaposition of clauses without connectors, explicit coordination with ja is used for the overall structuring of the class as well as the temporal extension of talk to achieve synchronicity of vocal and embodied behavior. In contrast to formal theories that consider grammar as a device for coherent expression of pre-planned propositions, this study argues that grammatical structure emerges as part of practical action across participants and modalities.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The data
  • 3.Coordinating consecutive clauses and moves
  • 4.Clausal units and the organization of the activity: Ja-clauses launching the termination of an exercise
  • 5.Ja-prefacing and transition to the next sequence of similar exercise moves
  • 6.Ja as a device of cross-modal synchronization and a starting signal
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgment
  • Transcription conventions
  • Notes
  • References
References (22)
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