“Braid Structure” Conversations:Development of Informal Triadic Conversation in Japanese

Abstract

This study analyzes informal triadic conversations taken from a Japanese TV talk show, focusing on three prominent linguistic resources that are frequently observed in Japanese conversation: repetition and paraphrasing of another speaker’s utterance, and co-construction of a sentence/story. The analysis shows that the three resources share some functional features in conversation: they connect speakers’ utterances, ideas, and the speakers themselves while developing a story collaboratively. This is achieved by the participants accessing each other’s utterances and 1) incorporating others’ utterances in their own speech (i.e., repetition and paraphrasing) or 2) supplementing or completing others’ utterances with their own words (i.e., co-construction). It is also shown that these linguistic resources often take place contiguously and synergistically to enhance the collaborative and bonding nature of casual Japanese conversation. Analysis suggests that, in animated informal conversations, Japanese speakers develop the conversations by spontaneously intertwining their utterances as if weaving strings into a braid. Developing this analogy, this study introduces a “braid structure” model to illustrate how in conversation, Japanese speakers, especially close friends, intricately connect their utterances, and by extension, themselves.