There's No Harm in Glossing (but a Need for a Better Understanding of the Status of Transcripts)

Abstract

While agreeing with Walker's (2014/this issue) appeal to keep form and function in linguistically-inclined conversation analysis separate, I argue that a discussion of what a transcript is and how it can be used is called for. The amount of detail included in a transcript can never be “exhaustive” (according to whatever standards) but is determined by the research question. Glosses are unavoidable for interactional details outside the research focus. Data are in American English.

Notes

¹All examples accessed September 3, 2013.

²Also for grammarians, of course. The well-known grammatical glossing practices (see Leipzig Glossing Rules, http://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php) used by linguists are a way to make data accessible that are not the focus of the analysis. In the case of glosses, the form-function coupling is obviously taken for granted.