Grammar for adjusting assumptions: The Estonian enclitic -gi/-ki in interaction

The article shows how a bound morpheme, the enclitic -gi/-ki in Estonian, functions in the domain of interpersonal relations and mutual knowledge calibration in conversation. Speakers use the enclitic with verbs in order to adjust some assumption previously held by themselves or by their interlocutors. When formulating contributions in talk, participants always display assumptions about matters at hand as well as about what they believe other participants know. Furthermore, when accomplishing a first action in a sequence, they display an assumption that the next speaker will align in her action. All these assumptions are subject to adjustment by other participants who may present themselves as more knowledgeable on the subject matter or more entitled to provide opinions about it. The enclitic is used in reactive turns to indicate better epistemic access and higher authority in relation to a prior speaker, which may result in a disaligning action.

► The Estonian enclitic -gi/-ki functions across conversational sequences.
► It marks that a previously displayed assumption is inadequate.
► It establishes the current speaker as the knowledgeable authority.
► A bound grammatical morpheme deals with interpersonal relations.