Tte Yuu Ka as a Repair Preface in Japanese

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the workings of the phrase tte yuu ka used as a “repair preface” in the context of replacing one formulation with another. We show that the use of tte yuu ka in the operation of replacement self-repair instructs the recipient to hear the repair solution as an alternative that is better suited for whatever purpose the speaker may be pursuing at the moment than the trouble-source formulation, without necessarily rejecting the latter as incorrect or inappropriate. We also demonstrate how this feature of tte yuu ka is used as a resource to accomplish situated interactional work in talk-in-interaction in both ordinary and institutional settings. Data are Japanese with English translation, with a few excerpts of English data cited from published research.

Notes

¹ As stated previously, a repair initiation embodies a disjunction with the immediately preceding talk. Such a disjunction is not always indicated by nonlexical hitches, however. In some cases, a disjunction with preceding talk is realized in and through a repair solution, as seen in (1), where the repair solution told replaces the trouble source said. Here, the repair initiation is achieved in and through the production of the repair solution:

(i) [Lerner and Kitzinger, 2015: 63]

A: Did you hear what he said told Sarah .hhh that they

were considered the cutest couple in the [cla:ss].

Likewise, self-repairs accompanied by a repair preface can be initiated without any preceding nonlexical hitch, as seen in (2), where the trouble source I is replaced by the repair solution we:. Here, the repair initiation is realized in and through the production of or-preface followed by the repair solution.

(ii) [Lerner and Kitzinger, 2015: 63]

Hut: ‘Bout a year ago uh I created or we: created .hhh a

new (.) position of National Intelligence Officer

fo:r Transnational Threats.

See Excerpt 11 for a similar case in Japanese.

² The abbreviations used in the interlinear glosses in the transcripts are as follows: CP = copula; EMP = emphasis marker; FP = final particle; LK = linking particle; MIM = mimetic; N = nominalizer; NEG = negation; O = object particle; PST = past tense; PT = particle; Q = question particle; QT = quotative particle; RC = response cry; SP = subject particle; TL = title marker; TP = topic particle.

³ Throughout this article, we retain tte yuu ka untranslated in the English translation lines of the transcripts.

⁴ K’s treatment of batsu ga warui (“feel awkward”) as a less-than-definitive formulation may be foreshadowed by the sound stretch and an intraturn pause immediately before the production of the formulation in line 1.

⁵ Kei’s use of oojii may also be regarded as his display of other-attentiveness, i.e., orientation to the fact that his recipient works at an all-girls school while he does not.

⁶ We thank Aug Nishizaka for allowing us to use this excerpt from his data collection.

⁷ Here, joohoo sentaa (“information center”) is not an alternative formulation of toshokan (“library”), as they refer to different buildings on the campus of the university that the participants in this conversation attend.

⁸ The “party” referred to here is a so-called nijikai, or “second party,” which is distinct from a wedding reception. A nijikai is mostly for the friends (rather than family and relatives) of the bride and groom to celebrate the occasion of their marriage. A nijikai often takes place on the same day as the wedding ceremony and reception, but in the case of the couple being talked about in Excerpt 15, their nijikai took place a week after their wedding. The phone call between Masao and Chika was made the day before the nijikai.

⁹ In other words, the to yuu ka-prefaced replacement in line 19 is embedded within Masao’s other-initiation of repair on Chika’s question in line 14.

¹⁰ Both Masao and Chika use the term (kekkon) shiki to refer to the previous week’s wedding event throughout this conversation, both before the segment in Excerpt 15 and after. This fact provides additional warrant for Masao’s treatment of the trouble-source formulation (kekkon) shiki as a legitimate one to refer to the previous week’s wedding event including the reception.

¹¹ Note that, while the criminal cases examined in these mock deliberations are fictional, the interaction among the participants during the deliberation process is naturally occurring in that nothing is scripted either for the professional judges or the lay judges.

¹² There are two additional instances of tte (yuu) ka in lines 06 and 27 in this excerpt. Due to space limitations, however, our discussion will focus on the to yuu ka-prefaced repair in lines 49–50.

¹³ Though space does not allow us to show relevant data excerpts, this type of “translation” from a judicial term to a lay alternative is recurrently performed by professional judges in our mock deliberation data.