Repetition of Prior-Turn in Ordinary Urdu Conversation

Abstract

Repetition of prior-turn is a quite frequent practice inordinary conversation. The present study aims at highlighting the form and function of repetition of prior-turn in ordinary Urdu conversation. For the purpose, five group conversations by Urdu speakers were recorded, with a total time of about a hundred and thirty minutes. The recorded data were transcribed adopting transcription conventions from Schegloff (2000). The analysis of data reveals that, in group conversations, repetition of previous turn is mainly used as an effective strategy to keep the floor, where there are more than one possible candidates for the next turn and where there is ‘threat of losing the floor’. Moreover , speakers repeat part of previous turn as a strategy to ‘buy’ time, a notion supported by the fact that such repetitions are sometimes closely followed by non-expletive phrases which do not add anything new in the ongoing conversation, but rather function as regular ‘fillers’.