Accomplishing continuity across sequences and encounters: No(h)-prefaced initiations in Estonian

•Turn-initiations may show that the action is contingent and warranted.•Prefaces to initiating turns can index continuity of action.•The Estonian no(h)-preface accomplishes continuity across human encounters.

Initiating actions, such as the introduction of a topic or the initiation of a sequence in a conversation, are social accomplishments. The study focuses on the Estonian no(h)-preface in turns that initiate action sequences and often also a locally new topic in a human encounter. It argues that these no(h)-prefaced turns accomplish continuity beyond the current event and thereby index a long-term involvement between the participants. By marking the turn as warranted by an earlier action trajectory, the no(h)-preface contributes to achieving continuity of action across intervening sequences and encounters. The data come from 70 h of recordings primarily of phone calls.