Chinese Language and Discourse An International and Interdisciplinary Journal· 2026Q1
Calibrating understanding in interaction
- 2citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Mandarin Chinese speakers use nonclausal candidate understandings with final particles to negotiate and recalibrate shared meaning during other-initiated repair in everyday conversation.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Candidate understandings are deployed in Mandarin Chinese during other-initiated repair when prior talk is treated as not fully interpretable.
- Speakers produce proposals specifying referent or interpretive scope, often in nonclausal forms with final particles.
- These practices invite confirmation from the prior speaker.
- Candidate understandings create interactional space to negotiate shared meaning and recalibrate understanding locally.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract This study examines how Mandarin Chinese speakers deploy candidate understandings in other-initiated repair in everyday interaction. Drawing on 15 hours of naturally occurring conversation, the analysis shows that candidate understandings recurrently emerge when some aspect of prior talk is treated as not yet sufficiently interpretable for the ongoing interaction. In such cases, speakers produce proposals that specify either the referent or the interpretive scope within which a prior turn is to be understood. In Mandarin, candidate understandings are frequently formatted in nonclausal forms with final particles to invite confirmation from the prior speaker. Such practices do more than resolve problems of comprehension. Rather, they constitute an interactional space through which participants negotiate what can remain shared and what requires further specification within the local interactional context, thereby recalibrating understanding as the interaction unfolds.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Chinese Language and Discourse An International and Interdisciplinary Journal, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Language and Linguistics
Language and LinguisticsArts and Humanities