Modular Pivots: A Resource for Extending Turns at Talk

Abstract

This article investigates a type of turn constructional pivot structurally different from and more common than those previously analyzed within the literature. Modular pivots are comprised of items of talk that (a) are linguistic adjuncts and hence syntactically optional, (b) routinely appear in both turn-initial and turn-final positions, and (c) are deployed to forge an overlapping or pivotal transition between otherwise discrete TCUs. In addition to identifying various linguistic candidates for use as modular pivots, this article reports the results of auditory and acoustic analysis of three such candidates (now, I guess, and you know) revealing the intonational and articulatory seamlessness of the pivot’s junctures with prior and subsequent talk. It also furnishes evidence that the pivot itself facilitates the speaker’s suppression of terminal intonation at both junctures and explains this outcome by reference to the pivot’s impact on the speaker’s experience of projected speech delivery. The conclusion addresses various broader implications for pivotal turn construction, the linguistic adjuncts that can serve as pivots, and the turn extensions that they enable. Data are drawn from American and British English language conversation.