Backchannels are not always very short utterances. The case of Italian Multi-Unit Backchannels

Abstract

Backchannels (BCs) are signals produced by conversation partners to support the ongoing turn of the interlocutor. Audible backchannels can have a lexical (yes) or non-lexical form (mhm), consisting of one unit (mhm) or multiple units (mhm yes). In this paper, we analyse the form and function of Multi-Unit Backchannels (MUBs) in Italian conversational speech.Data are drawn from the DIA (Dialogic ItAlian) corpus, a collection of spontaneous and informal conversations between dyads of Italian speakers who know each other well. In this corpus, MUBs represent over 29% of total backchanneling signals. While most single-unit backchannels fulfil a single function, with Continuer being the most frequent, the majority of MUBs fulfil multiple functions simultaneously, usually involving Agreement. Although backchannels are regarded as very short utterances, a large proportion of MUBs are, in fact, not short in duration. Interestingly, in our corpus MUBs are produced more frequently by speakers who do not take a prominent role in the interaction.