Claiming epistemic access: eh ciò-prefaced turns in Trevigiano and in regional Italian

Abstract

ABSTRACT : This conversation analytic study describes the interactional uses of ciò [ʧɔ], a pragmatic particle that is used both in the regional Italian spoken in Veneto (a region of northeastern Italy) and in Trevigiano (Trevixàn [trevi’zaŋ]), an Italo-Romance variety widely used in the Treviso area. Preliminary results show that ciò (derived from the imperative form of the verb ciór/tòr ([ʧor]/[tɔr] ‘to take’) is mostly used as a preface in responsive position and is frequently preceded by the particle eh. In our data, the (eh) ciò-prefaced turns are designed as general, objective, obvious contributions through which participants provide a wider perspective on the topic while treating the preceding talk as defective or not dealing with relevant aspects of the subject under discussion. This study contributes to the documentation of linguistic forms that are used by speakers of an Italo-Romance variety as conversational resources in talk-in-interaction.