Remembering Relevant Information and Withholding Relevant Next Actions: The German Token achja

Abstract

Using conversation analytic methodology, in this article, we examine two prosodic variants of the German response token achja and their use in everyday interaction. Whereas achJA, with prosodic prominence (in form of higher amplitude) on the second syllable, is used to claim remembering of relevant but just now recalled information, ∧achja, with prosodic prominence (in form of a pitch peak) on the first syllable, serves as a placeholder in sequential slots in which the speaker is not in a position to provide the just-now-relevant response. Thus, whereas a speaker may use achJA to establish prior independent access to interactionally relevant information and mark its retrieval, ∧achja displays a significant lack of access to relevant sequential or contextual knowledge. ∧Achja is regularly recognized as an insufficient response by the coparticipant and followed by turn and sequence expansions, whereas achJA is closing relevant. In this article, we also discuss the component tokens ach and ja separately and outline implications for the study of response tokens, translation practices, and of prosody in interaction.

Notes

1 For space concerns, we exclude here a discussion of achjas produced with obvious rising-final (i.e., questioning) intonation. This intonation contour coupled with other elements in the turn functions as a marker of surprise or disbelief. It might be this usage of achja that one of our anonymous reviewers was thinking of when she or he provided a list of (invented) examples of achja turns that may perform functions other than the ones described in this article.

2 The translation in not a literal translation of the token achJA (which would be oh yeah), but instead it is a functional one. It is based on Heritage's (1984) account of oh that's right.

3 “Habe” (“have”) is an auxiliary verb, and the corresponding participle is strongly projected (i.e., gemacht [done]) but not uttered. This construction is typically translated as simple past in English. Hence, we provide the main verb (“did”) in parentheses.

4 Heritage (1984; J. Heritage, personal communication, September 2006) suggests oh that's right and an oh yes in certain positions to both be indicating a “‘just-now-recollected-as-relevant’ remembering of previously and independently known information” (Heritage, 1984, p. 338).

5 One might think that German ∧achja is similar in function to Finish joo; however, the tokens are not equivalent in all uses. As Sorjonen (2001, p. 280) observed, “joo responds merely to the factual character of the prior utterance and registers it as understood [italics added] leaving aside its affiliation-relevant aspect.” We argued previously that German ∧achja/∧ahja indicates that speakers have not understood the interactional import of the prior utterance but simply register it as new information.