How to do things without words: The taken‐for‐granted as speech‐action

Abstract

Taken‐for‐granteds (TFGs), or uncoded propositions, seem to be as vulnerable to Janguage‐action analysis as is speech. The present essay provides some beginnings to such analysis. Taken‐for‐granteds are described in a brief literature review as being constituted of reflexive relations of patterns and parts‐the parts are micro‐details of messages; the patterns are frames. Following Goffman, a line of research called “frame analysis” is proposed to describe TFG use. Several areas of inquiry are sketched briefly, including: alignment talk, analysis of frame genres, male‐female conversation, and patterns of myth.