Address, reference and sequentiality in Indonesian conversation

Abstract

© 2019 John Benjamins Publishing Company. Indonesian has an open pronoun system that provides speakers with a range of first and second person terms. Drawing on data from informal conversation, we examine second person expressions used for address and reference in sequence initiating actions in multiparty interaction. Previous work on English has shown that address and reference are bound up in the systematics of turn taking, and that these practices are context-sensitive. We show this is also the case for Indonesian and that: (a) variation in sequential placement of person terms does stancetaking work; (b) speakers can choose between long and short forms of a name, with short names regularl..