応答やあいづちに用いられる照応的な「そう」について : 談話データにみる自然な対話の特徴

Abstract

The anaphoric soo, which is used as part of response (e.g. Hai, soo desu. 'Yes, it is so.') or as a conversational continuer (e.g. Soo soo. 'Right, right.'), has been investigated in two types of research programs, (1) studies on Japanese discourse based largely on constructed dialogues, and (2) studies on backchannels, or aizuchi, of which soo and related forms (e.g. soo desu ne, soo nan desu yo ne, soo ka, soo nanda) constitute one of the major types. After reviewing the previous literature, this article looks at natural spontaneous discourse data, and shows how soo is used interactively. In particular, soo may be used even after grammatically incomplete or unfinished sentences, which previous studies using constructed examples failed to consider. It is claimed that the two types of soo cannot, and should not, be distinguished. For a better, comprehensive understanding of soo, it is crucial that we should employ conversational discourse data. Analyses of soo in interactive discourse can give many insights on the relationship between grammar and discourse.