Reshaping the response space with kulenikka in beginning to respond to questions in Korean conversation

Abstract

Respondents have various ways of resisting the constraints that questions impose on them. In this article I show one way in which Korean speakers deal with trouble of responding to questions as put when beginning to respond: Prefacing their responses with kulenikka. The analysis shows that kulenikka marks the response as departing from the question's terms and signals a reshaping of the response space. Three common contexts for this departure are: Respondents (1) cannot conform to the question's terms due to the question's inadequate presuppositions; (2) defer a straightforward or type-conforming answer; and (3) evade the question. The findings contribute to a developing body of conversation analytic research on how question recipients display resistance to questions, and more generally how turn-beginnings serve as an important place in interaction.