Audibly Not Saying Something with Clicks

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores the use of clicks—a nonverbal vocalization—in everyday talk. It is argued that clicks are one way of not saying something, i.e., of not producing talk when talk was due. While many clicks occur alongside verbal material, which provides a method for participants to ascribe an action to the turn in which they are embedded, many do not. The article explores the linguistic (especially phonetic), sequential and embodied resources available to participants to make sense of such clicks. It is argued that some clicks have properties of linguistic organization: They have nonarbitrary form-meaning mappings. Other clicks by contrast are interpreted more as ad hoc, singular events. The article contributes to a less logocentric view of talk-in-interaction. Data are in British and American English from audio and video.