Analysing everyday conversation 151Analyses of this type satisfy the intuition that exchanges are linked together
in a way that rigidly-defining horizontal lines between them tend to
mask. Such a solution, however, wreaks havoc with a hierarchical system
of analysis. For the exchange to be a unit which will combine with other
exchanges to form larger units, or transactions, it must have clearly
defined boundaries and there must be limits on what it can contain.
Otherwise it is impossible to apply the notion of rank scale to ordinary
spoken discourse. Although our data includes sequences which can be
analysed like Examples (28)–(30), these are relatively rare, and the analysis
which is more in accord with the Sinclair—Coulthard system is at least
equally satisfactory.
Another motivation that may lead the analyst to see a need for double
labelling is that an utterance may have a significance for the conversation
as a whole which is not captured by the restricted nomenclature of act,
move and exchange. An example from our data is:
Example 31
A: Oh (#) no we were just leaving actually
B: Oh
The long-term function of this exchange is to limit the overall length of the
conversation: A warns B that the time available is short and that any important
matter should be raised at once.
The Sinclair—Coulthard system of analysis, however, approaches discourse
on a moment-by-moment basis. Each utterance is classified in terms of
its effect on the immediately following utterances. As the exchange of
Example (31) has no immediate effect upon the limits of the conversation
it can be classified only as ‘Inform’. Its larger-scale significance remains
uncoded.
Similarly, the Sinclair—Coulthard system codes utterances in terms
of their effect on the discourse only, not upon the participants in that
discourse. Observers of interaction know that, for example, the answer
to a question may have a significance far in excess of its role as the
realization of an informing move at R. In the following utterances, B’s
responses may be classified as a joke, a mild insult, and an expression
of affection respectively.
Example 32
(A proselytizer (A) at a bus-stop attempting to convert a bystander (B))
A: Where will you stand on Judgement Day?
B: Still here I expect, waiting for the number 11 bus
Example 33
A: Do you have the time?
B: There’s a clock right in front of your eyes—says ten to four doesn’t it