On reference work and issues related to the management of knowledge: An analysis of the Farsi particle dige in turn-final position

Abstract

This paper provides a conversation analytic description of the particle dige in turn-final position in Farsi conversation, and demonstrates its function as an epistemic marker. The analysis suggests that the turn-final particle dige occurs in turns that signal problems with the prior turn(s) that may have been motivated by matters related to managing epistemic dimensions. The analysis proposes two specific interactional contexts in which turn-final dige occurs: (a) in turns that are devoted to showing speaker's access to specific knowledge, and (b) in situations in which participants deal with misalignment in their respective presumed epistemic status. In addition, the paper illustrates (a) how issues related to indexing access to knowledge and knowledge primacy in conversation involve management of referential information, and (b) that in designing their turns, speakers select specific referential formulations in order to make reference to information and knowledge, and to signal their epistemic stance toward that knowledge.