Request for confirmation sequences in Castilian Spanish

Abstract: This article analyzes request for confirmation (RfC) sequences in spoken Castilian Spanish. RfCs are conversational turns that present a proposition for which the speaker claims some knowledge but at the same time asks for an informed co-participant’s (dis) confirmation. Adopting an Interactional Linguistics perspective, the article examines the linguistic resources used to design RfCs and their responses. The analysis is based on a collection of 250 sequences extracted from spontaneous face-to-face conversations. The article reveals that RfCs in Spanish frequently lack explicit modalization markers. It is proposed that lower epistemic access is also indexed by the use of inference markers and the sequential positioning of the request. Furthermore, the article shows that Castilian Spanish RfCs are frequently prefaced by connectives that establish links to prior talk in various ways. Responses to RfCs in Spanish are predominantly confirming. While responding by using a response token alone is possible, responses are typically expanded and do additional interactional work apart from mere (dis) confirmation. The findings of the study demonstrate that RfCs are sensitively designed to answer to local requirements in interaction, and that further (crosslinguistic) research is needed on the functional potential of specific resources and their interplay.

Objekt anzeigen

• Standort: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Umfang: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Request for confirmation sequences in Castilian Spanish ; volume:11 ; number:1 ; year:2025 ; extent:44 ; Open linguistics ; 11, Heft 1 (2025) (gesamt 44)

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Urheber: Ehmer, Oliver

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: 10.1515/opli-2024-0039
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2502210252094.017673049282
• Rechteinformation: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.