SILGLOBALGlossary of
Linguistic Terms

Glossary term A

Account

Definition

An account is an explanation as to why a dispreferred second part is given as a response in an adjacency pair.

Discussion

An account is a frequent feature of dispreferred second parts.

Examples

(English)

B’s response I’m supervising here in the following adjacency pair is an account:

  • A: What about coming here on the way; or doesn’t that give you enough time?

  • B: Well no; I’m supervising here.

    • See also

    Dispreferred Second Part Adjacency Pair

    Sources 1

    1. Levinson 1983, 334–335
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