In:OKAY across Languages: Toward a comparative approach to its use in talk-in-interaction
Edited by Emma Betz, Arnulf Deppermann, Lorenza Mondada and Marja-Leena Sorjonen
[Studies in Language and Social Interaction 34] 2021
► pp. 205–233
Chapter 7OKAY as a response to informings in Finnish
Published online: 17 March 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/slsi.34.07koi
https://doi.org/10.1075/slsi.34.07koi
Abstract
This chapter examines the use of the particle
OKAY in Finnish as a response to turns that are designed to provide
new information. The study focuses on the ways in which the speakers
of OKAY orient toward the epistemic character of the informing, and
on its sufficiency for the purposes of the ongoing interaction.
These aspects are analyzed by paying attention to the sequential and
activity context of the particle, its phonetic-prosodic design, and
the possible subsequent talk in the turn. OKAY is also compared with
some other Finnish response particles in similar sequential and
activity contexts. The data come from telephone and face-to-face
interactions between family and friends spanning a period from the
late 1980s to the present.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Data
- 3.Contrasting the use of okei to change-of-state tokens proper
- 4.Receiving information as understood and sufficient for current purposes
- 5.Receiving information as newsworthy: okei produced with marked prosody
- 6.Expressing doubt or perplexity toward the information received: okei produced with stylized prosody
- 7.Conclusion
Acknowledgements Notes
Cited by (7)
Cited by seven other publications
Henricson, Sofie, Anne Mäntynen, Marie Nelson & Marjo Savijärvi
Koivisto, Aino & Heini Lehtonen
Rivera, Nicolás & Helena Nurmikari
Deppermann, Arnulf, Ibrahim Cindark, Lari Kotilainen, Salla Kurhila & Inkeri Lehtimaja
Savolainen, Irina
Vepsäläinen, Heidi, Anna Sundqvist, Marja-Leena Sorjonen & Auli Hakulinen
2023. Responding to polar questions without a polarity item ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in Finnish. In Responding to Polar Questions across Languages and Contexts [Studies in Language and Social Interaction, 35], ► pp. 301 ff.
Siitonen, Pauliina, Marika Helisten, Maarit Siromaa, Mirka Rauniomaa & Mari Holmström
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