Organizing TCUs in a turn

Abstract

This paper examines two self-initiated same-turn repair operations, namely reordering and parenthesizing, in Mandarin conversation. Although both are initiated within a TCU, they often operate on global trouble sources instead of local ones internal to that TCU. On the surface, the two operations seem to share a similar formal pattern in which a TCU is first self-interrupted, and non-projected clausal materials are then produced before the interrupted TCU is resumed. What differentiate the two operations are their distinct roles in organizing TCUs in multi-unit turns. Reordering addresses the tension between the temporal sequence of the events being recounted and the temporal arrangement of the recounting. The clausal material added through reordering becomes an integral part in the rearrangement of the TCUs in that turn. Parenthesizing addresses the tension between the linearity of speech production and information management. It also addresses potential interactional problems to maintain intersubjectivity.