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Repair strategies and social interaction in spontaneous spoken French: the pragmatic particle enfin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2001

Kate Beeching
Affiliation:
University of the West of England

Abstract

The spoken language has traditionally been regarded as being a degenerate version of the written language, marred by backtrackings and repetitions. This paper explores the role of the pragmatic particle enfin when it is used as a corrective, both to introduce a repair and, in its mitigating or hedging capacity, as a mediator of social relations. An attempt is made to account for the pragmatico-syntactic characteristics of a particular manifestation of corrective enfin – the echo/self-mimic corrective. The behaviour of enfin is arguably a microcosm in a much larger universe of rules governing the way speakers produce and hearers interpret the shifting signals of participatory discourse.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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