A Study of the Sequential Environments of Turn-Initial “Laughter”—A Conversation Analytic Approach

Abstract

“Laughter” is a common language in human society. The “laughter” in the turn-initial position is a special one, which is of great significance for analyzing the social action of the whole turn. Using the method of conversation analysis, this paper explores the sequential environments of “laughter” which is in the turn-initial position of the daily Chinese communication. This analysis finds that “laughter” in the turn-initial position often appears in the following three sequential environments: after the previous speaker’s self-deprecating; the current speaker complains to the listener about the listener or third party; after the previous speaker has stated the difficulty he or she is facing in his or her turn.