CLICKS AS MARKERS OF NEW SEQUENCES IN ENGLISH CONVERSATION

Abstract

This paper analyses the use of clicks in naturally-occurring English conversation. It demonstrates that regardless of any paralinguistic functions that clicks may undertake, their occurrence is orderly and systematic, and intimately tied to the interactional structure of talk. Specifically, clicks are shown to function alongside various phonetic parameters, such as pitch and glottalisation (and the sequential and lexical organisation of talk), to demarcate the onset of new and disjunctive sequences. These findings challenge the traditional view that clicks function only paralinguistically in English conversation. They also highlight the fruitfulness of implementing context-bound phonetic investigations alongside interactional analyses.