Address terms in the organization of turns at talk: The case of pivotal turn extensions

This paper provides an overview of address terms in the organization of turns and turn taking, and devotes particular attention to their use at one turn constructional juncture where the speaker's retention of the floor is uncertain: following grammatical completion points. It demonstrates that, and how, address terms can serve as a resource for extending turns at talk at this juncture. Address terms operate as turn constructional pivots, simultaneously completing the prior syntactic unit and initiating the next unit. Auditory and acoustic analysis reveals the intonational seamlessness of the pivotal address term's junctures with adjacent talk. The paper also examines the turn extensions achieved in this way and offers an account of what they accomplish, focusing on their recurrent use to support vulnerable claims. This study highlights the utility of address terms for purposes other than addressing per se, and more generally the incremental and interactive realization of turns at talk in ordinary conversation.

► Address terms can appear in turn-initial, turn-medial, and turn-final positions.
► In turn-medial position, address terms can operate as turn constructional pivots.
► Their junctures with adjacent talk are intonationally seamless.
► The turn extensions they achieve tend to support vulnerable claims.