Project "Constitution of meaning in social interaction (interactional semantics)"
Action ascriptions in social interaction
To accomplish intersubjectivity in interaction, interactants have to make transparent to each other the meaning of their actions as well as their understanding of the other's actions. We analyse when, how and for what purposes interactants explicate either their understanding of a partner's action or the intended meaning of their own actions. Action ascriptions concern different facets of actions, as for example intention, expectations concerning addressee's next actions, or motives for the action itself. In the example below, S2 speculates upon her boyfriend's (S1) reasons for being reluctant to make a statement about how he would react in a (fictive) situation where his girlfriend would be sick and he would have to choose between either staying at home with her or going out with his friends.Publications and talks:
Deppermann, Arnulf (2014): Handlungsverstehen und Intentionszuschreibung in der Interaktion I: Intentionsbekundungen mit wollen. In: Bergmann, Pia / Birkner, Karin / Gilles, Peter / Spiekermann, Helmut / Streck, Tobias (eds.): Sprache im Gebrauch: räumlich, zeitlich, interaktional. Festschrift für Peter Auer. Heidelberg: Winter, pp. 309-326. PDF
Deppermann, Arnulf / Kaiser, Julia (2015): Achieving the transparency of action: Intention ascriptions in second position. Paper at the 14th International Pragmatics Conference of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA), Antwerp (Belgium).