| This dissertation uses conversation analysis to examine three non-disagreeing functions of the token 'no' when it prefaces a turn at talk. In the first function, 'no'-prefaces index and respond to an inferential component of a prior turn. This practice entails a number of sub-practices, in which speakers use 'no'-prefaced responses to deny face-threatening actions produced through "off-record" formulations, display affiliation with a recipient by managing incongruent stance displays, manage inferences regarding the speaker's epistemic stance or rights, deny an inference conveyed through a prior polar question, or produce a preferred response to delicate formulations that index a recipient's accountability, blame, or guilt. In the second function, 'no'-prefaces mark a shift in how the turn is organized with regard to the speaker's footing. In this practice, speakers employ 'no'-prefaced turns to shift between non-serious and serious interactional frames, or retroactively assert the serious footing of a prior utterance. In the third function, 'no'-prefaces mark a shift in how the turn is organized with regard to the surrounding talk. In this practice, 'no'-prefaced turns may be used to mark a unit of talk as hearably "misplaced", connect back to a prior segment of talk, or close an extended telling sequence. As a study situated within the framework of interactional linguistics, this dissertation examines these functions of 'no'-prefaces in the context of naturally-occurring English conversation. |
