Reference construction in interaction: The case of type-indicative so

This study examines an embodied practice in German. The practice investigated is the use of the German particle so in conjunction with a noun phrase and accompanied by a pointing gesture (hereafter so+NP+PG). Based on the methodological principles of Conversation Analysis, I demonstrate that in the construction so+NP+PG the particle features as a type-indicative token. Interlocutors use this practice to point at an object that is a concrete perceivable token that represents a type. Focusing on the interplay between linguistic and multimodal resources in the construction of reference, I show that so+NP+PG functions as a resource that interlocutors use in order to point at physically present entities, directing the addressees' attention to an actual object in the participants' perceptual space. However, they are not making reference to that specific object. Instead, the speaker establishes a communicative focus on a recognisable entity in order to make reference to an absent entity that bears the same features as the pointed-at object. Hence, the absent entity is visualised or seen through an actual object in the perceptual surroundings. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

This study examines how speakers use a specific practice in German, where they combine language and gestures to point at physical entities in order to refer to absent entities that share similar features.