On dynamics of telephone conversation closedown in Farsi

Abstract

This study sought to unearth the dynamics of telephone closedown ritual in Farsi in terms of pre-closing and terminal exchanges in non-institutional settings and to compare them with similar sequences in American English. The participants were native Farsi speakers living in Iran. The analysis of the data from 39 mundane mobile phone calls, informed by Conversation Analysis, suggests that as in English, in the closing-implicative environment where the core business of the call is accomplished, occasioning the move toward closing, some pre-closing signals such as bâshe (ok), kheili khob (alright), and kho(b) bâshe (ok then), foreshadow initiation of closing, providing the possibility for parties to interactionally bring calls to closure, shade them or even topicalize something new. However, unlike American English in which tokens such as ok and alright could be used in closing- and non-closing-implicative environments alike, the frequently-used token of bâshe bâshe (ok ok) can be potentially closing-relevant and the interrogative form kâri nadâri? (Anything else?) and endearment terms, tied to closedown ritual, regularly warrant shutting calls down, severely limiting the possibility of shading the current topic-in-progress and effectively precluding the possibility of topicalizing something new, which makes a strong case for their language- or culture-specificity.