ABSTRACT

This article explores the relation between word order and response latency, focusing on responses to question-word questions. Qualitative (multimodal) and quantitative analyses of naturally occurring conversations in French—where question-words can occur in initial, medial, or final position within the question—show that variation in word order affects the timing of responses. It is argued that this is so because word order provides a differential basis for action ascription, creating different temporal opportunities for projecting the recipient’s next relevant action. The frequent occurrence of early responses to questions with an initial question-word, in particular, stresses the importance of the recognition point of an action under way for response timing and shows respondents’ pervasive orientation to sequential progressivity. Findings highlight how lexico-syntactic trajectories of emergent turns, prior talk and actions, material and bodily features of interaction, and participants’ shared expectations conspire in shaping the time-courses of action ascription and action projection.

摘要

本文探讨了词序和响应延迟之间的关系，重点是对问题词问题的响应。法语中自然发生的对话的定性（多模态）和定量分析——问题词可以出现在问题的初始、中间或最终位置——表明词序的变化会影响回答的时间。有人认为，之所以如此，是因为词序为动作归因提供了不同的基础，为预测接收者的下一个相关动作创造了不同的时间机会。对带有初始问题词的问题的早期回答频繁出现，特别是强调了正在进行的动作的识别点对于响应时间的重要性，并表明受访者普遍倾向于顺序渐进。