Pivot constructions in spoken Estonian

Abstract

This article examines pivot constructions (PCs) in Estonian interaction. The data (146 examples from 135 randomly selected conversations) come from Corpus of spoken Estonian. The first section presents the main structural types of Estonian PCs. In addition to single-pivot PCs, the Estonian data revealed PCs with two pivots (and as a consequence: three pre-/post-pivots segments), which have not been mentioned in the literature before. The next section presents an analysis of (word)-searches made by PCs in Estonian. Four different variants of searches are presented according to the location of the initiation and outcome of the search with regard to the pivot. The last section analyses post-positioned self-repairs made by PCs. They are used almost always to offer an alternative verb. All post-positioned self-repairs are associated with the purpose of making information more accurate, precise, or specific. The analysis also showed that there is a division of labor between verb replacements made with or without PC.