TY - JOUR U1 - Zeitschriftenartikel, wissenschaftlich - begutachtet (reviewed) A1 - Deppermann, Arnulf A1 - De Stefani, Elwys T1 - Defining in talk-in-interaction: Recipient-design through negative definitional components JF - Journal of Pragmatics N2 - This article examines a recurrent format that speakers use for defining ordinary expressions or technical terms. Drawing on data from four different languages - Flemish, French, German, and Italian - it focuses on definitions in which a definiendum is first followed by a negative definitional component (‘definiendum is not X’), and then by a positive definitional component (‘definiendum is Y’). The analysis shows that by employing this format, speakers display sensitivity towards a potential meaning of the definiendum that recipients could have taken to be valid. By negating this meaning, speakers discard this possible, yet unintended understanding. The format serves three distinct interactional purposes: (a) it is used for argumentation, e.g. in discussions and political debates, (b) it works as a resource for imparting knowledge, e.g. in expert talk and instructions, and (c) it is employed, in ordinary conversation, for securing the addressee's correct understanding of a possibly problematic expression. The findings contribute to our understanding of how epistemic claims and displays relate to the turn-constructional and sequential organization of talk. They also show that the much quoted ‘problem of meaning’ is, first and foremost, a participant's problem. KW - Pragmatik KW - Interaktion KW - Negation KW - Definition KW - Definition KW - Negation KW - Social interaction KW - Meaning KW - Interactional semantics Y1 - 2019 UN - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bsz:mh39-84029 SN - 0378-2166 SS - 0378-2166 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.12.004 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.12.004 VL - 140 SP - 140 EP - 155 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -