Glossary

  • adjacency pairs: basic version consists of two parts, the first pair part (FPP) and the second pair part (SPP), each to be spoken by different people. Some examples are greeting-greeting, question-answer, summons-answer, offer-acceptance/rejection, etc. When FPP is uttered, the SPP is anticipated in the next turn, or soon after.

  • appositional beginnings: Words such as "Well," "So," and "But"; also pre-starts

  • first pair part (FPP): see adjacency pairs

  • post-completers: see tag question

  • pre-starts: see appositional beginnings

  • preference organization:

  • recipient design: ways in which speakers use resources such as word selection, topic selection to display orientation to the participants

  • repair: used to deal with turn-taking errors, including mishearings, misunderstandings, etc.

  • schism: with parties of at least four speakers, conversation can split into two or more

  • second pair part (SPP): see adjacency pairs

  • speech exchange system: any kind of interaction that involves talk, with everyday conversation as its most basic form; other forms, such as interviews, meetings, debates, etc. vary in the ways they restrict or modify turn-taking rules in conversation

  • tag question: Questions such as "You know?" or "Don't you agree?"; sometimes used as recompleters when no speaker takes next turn, and current speaker uses it to pass the turn; also post-completers

  • transition relevance place: the projected end of a turn when a transition is anticipated

  • turn construction unit (TCU): include sentential, clausal, phrasal, and lexical (syntactical) types

Further reading

Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. *Language*, *50*(4), 696–735.