Using prosodically marked “Okays” to display epistemic stances and incongruous actions

Abstract

Sequential environments are identified when core functions of “Okays”, acknowledging and accepting prior speaker's actions, are identified as unmarked utterances produced in short duration and with little or no pitch movement (e.g., “Okay.” or “‘Kay.”). Attention is then given to how particular marked “Okays” can be identified through features such as added syllable duration, accentuation, and raised or lowered pitch onset (e.g., “O::ka::y?”, “↑Ok:a::y.”, “O::↓k(hhh)a:::y.”). Analysis focuses on how marked “Okay” usages deviate from and thus play off of core acknowledgment and acceptance. A range of incongruous social actions are examined displaying epistemic stances that prior speaker's actions are, with varying intensity, “not okay”: 1) Prefacing disagreement and adversarial opposition; 2) Aggravated repetitions resisting, yet reluctantly complying with, others' requests or commands; and 3) Responding to prior actions as odd or bizarre. Data are drawn from a large collection of “Okays” in ordinary American conversations and institutional interactions.

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