“Zhen de” (真的) at the Response Position in Mandarin Chinese: A Conversation Analytic Perspective

Abstract

In natural conversation, “zhen de” can appear as a turn construction component before, in or after a turn, or as a single turn construction unit at the response position of a sequence. Using the research method of conversation analysis, this paper takes the video and audio data of daily conversations as the corpus to conduct an in-depth study on “zhen de”, the practice that appears in the response position of the sequence. Combining with the existing corpus, we found that in the sequence environment of story telling, “zhen de” independent as turn construction unit usually performs other initiated open repair, this case “zhen de” can appear in second pair part, seeking a response and explanation. It can also appear as first pair part in non-minimal post-expansion of second pair part to challenge the authenticity of the responses of it.