Topics & talking topically: An assessment of syntactic and discourse approaches to topic through evidence from multiple simultaneous conversations

Elizabeth A Strong, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation investigates syntactic and discourse approaches to topic through conversation analysis (CA), using data from schisming into multiple simultaneous conversations in American English dinner interactions. The analysis shows that the functionalist concept of syntactic topic within a single sentence or clause and the concept of discourse topic across a succession of two or more turns are not hierarchically related. Discourse topic represents a single participant’s orientation to a semantic concept as being cohesively indexed across multiple utterances and, unlike grammatical constructs such as syntactic topic, varies from person to person. The analysis also contradicts the frequently proposed definition that the syntactic topic constituent represents what a sentence or clause is about. However, both syntactic and discourse topics are tied to the social actions performed within talk. Formulating a discourse referent in syntactic topic position within a sentence may result in that referent being treated as responsible for the action predicated of it. If the action is positive, treating a discourse referent as a syntactic topic may thus perform the action of giving credit, while if the action is negative, it may be seen as placing blame. Speaker orientations to discourse topics also perform a social function beyond the actions otherwise carried out by the talk in that they predictably establish alignment between participants by asserting or negotiating a shared understanding of what the talk is about. This enables participants to treat potentially face-threatening actions such as disagreements as socially preferred actions. Finally, the analysis demonstrates that the concept of a “speaker’s topic” identified by Brown & Yule (1983) is fundamentally no different from a discourse topic. All discourse topics represent a single speaker’s understanding of the interaction and volition with regard to how it might continue. A longitudinal study of discourse topics repeated across interactions within the corpus suggests that speakers are not obligated to orient to the discourse topic of an immediately preceding turn, and that invoking discourse topics that have established alignment in the past may help initiate new parties to a gathering into how that type of gathering normally operates.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Roberts, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Linguistics|Communication|Sociolinguistics

COinS