Person Reference in Interaction: Linguistic, Cultural and Social Perspectives (Language Culture and Cognition, Series Number 7)

How do we refer to people in everyday conversation? No matter the language or culture, we must choose from a range of options: full name ('Robert Smith'), reduced name ('Bob'), description ('tall guy'), kin term ('my son') etc. Our choices reflect how we know that person in context, and allow us to take a particular perspective on them. This book brings together a team of leading linguists, sociologists and anthropologists to show that there is more to person reference than meets the eye. Drawing on video-recorded, everyday interactions in nine languages, it examines the fascinating ways in which we exploit person reference for social and cultural purposes, and reveals the underlying principles of person reference across cultures from the Americas to Asia to the South Pacific. Combining rich ethnographic detail with cross-linguistic generalizations, it will be welcomed by researchers and graduate students interested in the relationship between language and culture. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 4 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 List of contributors......Page 9 Preface......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 12 1.1 Introduction......Page 13 1.2.1 Identifying and categorizing individuals......Page 14 1.2.2 From individuation to reference: names and descriptions......Page 15 1.3 Key notions for the empirical study of initial person reference......Page 19 1.3.1.1 Marked and Unmarked......Page 20 1.3.2 Principles of person-reference emerging from the study of English conversation......Page 22 1.4.1 Preference for achieving recognition (via name and otherwise)......Page 24 1.4.2 Preference for minimization......Page 25 1.4.3 A preference for association......Page 26 1.4.4 Cross-cutting preferences......Page 27 1.4.5 Variation in principles across cultures......Page 28 Acknowledgements......Page 31 Part I Person reference as a system......Page 33 2.1 Introduction......Page 35 2.2 Two preferences and their specification for person reference......Page 36 2.3 Incompatibility and its resolution......Page 38 3.1 On the fundamentals of person reference......Page 41 3.2 Some theoretical preliminaries......Page 42 3.3 Rossel Island – the ethnographic background of person description......Page 49 3.4 The natural history of initial reference to persons......Page 53 3.5 The nature of pointing gestures accompanying person reference......Page 56 3.6 Repair in third position......Page 57 3.7 Circumspection motivates multiple, sequential upgrades......Page 67 3.8 Taking theoretical stock......Page 78 4 Alternative recognitionals in person reference......Page 85 4.1 Background......Page 86 4.2.1 Unmarked recognitional forms for third-person singular......Page 88 4.2.2 Departures from unmarked third-person recognitionals......Page 89 4.2.2.1 Recipient associated: ‘Yer sister’......Page 90 4.2.2.2 Speaker associated: ‘My honey’......Page 95 4.2.2.3 Demonstrative prefaced descriptions: ‘That next door neighbour’......Page 97 4.2.2.4 ‘In the know’ references: ‘The lady mayoress’......Page 101 4.3 Discussion......Page 106 Acknowledgements......Page 108 5 Meanings of the unmarked: how ‘default’ person reference does more than just refer......Page 109 5.1 The Lao system of person reference......Page 111 5.1.1 Ethnographic background to the hierarchical stance in Lao social organization......Page 112 5.1.2 Pronouns......Page 114 5.1.3 Lao names and name prefixes......Page 115 5.1.4 Default formulations of initial references to persons in Lao conversation......Page 117 5.1.4.1 Maintaining differential perspectives to a single referent in conversation......Page 119 5.1.5 Pragmatically marked formulations of initial references to persons......Page 120 5.1.5.1 Pragmatically marked selection of prefix......Page 121 5.1.5.2 Omission of prefix......Page 122 5.2.1 How default formulations work......Page 124 5.2.2 How defaults are disarmed in conversation analysis by a Members-Only Filter......Page 125 5.2.3 What remains unseen depends on where your blind spot is......Page 127 Acknowledgements......Page 131 Part II The person reference system in operation......Page 133 6.1 Introduction......Page 135 6.2 Past resources......Page 136 6.3 Minimization and self-reference......Page 139 6.4 Recipient-design and self-reference......Page 142 6.5 The mundane and not so mundane...and a conclusion......Page 157 7.1 Construing persons......Page 161 7.2 Ways of referring to persons in Yucatec......Page 163 7.3 Situated construals of third parties......Page 170 7.4 Conclusion......Page 182 Acknowledgements......Page 183 8.1 Introduction......Page 184 8.1.1 Ethnographic background......Page 186 8.2 Resources for doing person reference in Tzeltal......Page 187 8.2.1 Kin terms and other relationship terms (‘your brother-in-law’, ‘your namesake’ ‘our-inclusive compadre’)......Page 188 8.2.2 Names......Page 190 8.2.4 Minimal descriptions (‘that one’ ‘the girls’, ‘the boss’)......Page 192 8.2.5 Pronominal cross-referencing on the verb (‘he/she’, ‘they’)......Page 193 8.2.6 Summary: default person-reference forms......Page 194 8.3.1 Overview......Page 196 8.3.2 Minimal person reference in Tzeltal......Page 198 8.3.3 Non-minimal initial person references......Page 203 8.3.4 Repair......Page 209 8.4 Summary: Tzeltal person-reference practices......Page 210 8.5 Principles of person reference instantiated in Tzeltal......Page 211 Abbreviations......Page 213 9.1 Introduction......Page 215 9.2 Background......Page 216 9.2.1 Quasi-pronouns in Korean......Page 217 9.3 Ku-forms as the unmarked quasi-pronouns for non-present persons......Page 220 9.4.1 I-based quasi-pronouns signalling prominence of the referent......Page 222 9.4.2 I-based quasi-pronouns claiming speaker’s epistemic authority on the referent......Page 226 9.5 Conclusion......Page 234 Abbreviations......Page 237 10.1 Gossip in the Who’s Who......Page 238 10.2 An initial metadiscourse of names:: the new son-in-law, 1970......Page 239 10.3 Economies of reference: triangularity......Page 241 10.4 Names and nicknames......Page 246 10.5 Nicknames......Page 247 10.6 The indexicality of names......Page 249 10.7 Kinship terms......Page 252 10.7.1 Address......Page 255 10.8 Titles (honorific and dishonorific), geographic monikers and affect......Page 256 10.9 Optimality and upgrades......Page 259 10.10 ‘Referring dupliciter’......Page 261 Abbreviations......Page 263 Part III The person reference as a system in trouble......Page 265 11 Intersubjectivity and progressivity in person (and place) reference......Page 267 11.1 Background......Page 271 11.2 Calibrating the dilemma: formats for self-repair......Page 273 11.3 Framing a person reference with an interpolation......Page 276 11.4 Recognitional hitches and the management of recipient recognition......Page 277 11.5 The salience of recognition and of its demonstration......Page 281 11.6 Adequate reference as shared responsibility......Page 286 11.7 Other recipient expansions of recognitional references......Page 289 11.8 Recognition as default......Page 291 12.1 Introduction: trouble and repair in person reference......Page 293 12.2 Bequia......Page 297 12.4 Person reference and other-initiated repair......Page 300 12.5 Trouble source and repair practices......Page 302 12.6 Who?......Page 305 12.7 Who X?......Page 308 12.8 Who is named so?......Page 311 12.9 Recipient design and repair in person reference......Page 316 12.10 Conclusions......Page 319 Acknowledgements......Page 320 13.2 Kilivila, the language and its speakers......Page 321 13.3 Forms of third-person reference in Kilivila......Page 322 13.3.1 Names and nicknames......Page 323 13.3.2 Kinship terms, kinship-terms and names, demonstratives and names, role descriptions and other additional descriptors......Page 326 13.3.3 Titles/honorifics and epithets......Page 327 13.3.4 Name taboo and third-person reference......Page 329 13.3.5 Reference to places in third-person reference......Page 330 13.3.6 Affixes and demonstratives and affixes......Page 331 13.3.7 Preferences in the organization of reference to persons in Kilivila......Page 332 13.4 A ‘référence dangereuse’ to persons in Kilivila......Page 334 13.5 Concluding remarks: reference to persons and the cross-cultural study of human interaction......Page 347 Acknowledgements......Page 349 References......Page 350 Index......Page 365 In This Book, A Team Of Linguistics, Sociologists And Anthropologists Reveal The Fascinating Ways In Which We Exploit Person Reference For Social And Cultural Purposes. It Will Be Welcomed By Researchers And Graduate Students Interested In The Relationship Between Language And Culture. 1. Person Reference In Interaction / Tanya Stivers, N.j. Enfield And Stephen C. Levinson -- Part I. Person Reference As A System: -- 2. Two Preferences In The Organization Of Reference To Persons In Conversation And Their Interaction / Harvey Sacks And Emanuel A. Schegloff -- 3. Optimizing Person Reference-evidence From Repair On Rossel Island / Stephen C. Levinson -- 4. Alternative Recognitionals In Person Reference / Tanya Stivers -- 5. Meanings Of The Unmarked: Why 'default' Person Reference Does More Than Just Refer / N.j. Enfield -- Part Ii. The Person Reference System In Operation: -- 6. Conveying Who You Are: The Presentation Of Self, Strictly Speaking / Emanuel A. Schegloff -- 7. Person Reference In Yucatec Maya / William F. Hanks -- 8. Principles Of Person Reference In Tzeltal / Penelope Brown -- 9. Non-initial Person Reference In Korean: Choosing Between Quasi-pronouns / Sun-young Oh -- 10. Person Reference In Tzotzil Gossip: Referring Dupliciter / John B. Haviland -- Part Iii. The Person Reference System In Trouble: -- 11. Intersubjectivity And Progressivity In Person (and Place) Reference / John Heritage -- 12. Repairing Person Reference In A Small Caribbean Community / Jack Sidnell -- 13. Reference And 'reference Dangereuse' To Persons In Kilivila: An Overview And Case Study / Gunter Senft. Edited By N.j. Enfield And Tanya Stivers. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 338-352) And Index.