Scott A Thompson

Biographic Data

ID640824
NAMEScott A Thompson
GIVEN NAMESScott A
FAMILY NAMEThompson
SIGNATURETHOMPSON S A
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of California, Santa Barbara
ORCID0000-0002-7794-2042
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS94
TOTAL CITATIONS1063
AUTHOR COUNT85
EDITOR COUNT9
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1969
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX12

  • Subject and Topic: A New Typology of Language

    Charles N Li, Scott A ThompsonCHAPTERSubject and Topic2026

    This paper is an amalgamation of three earlier papers and renders them obsolete: ( 1 ) “Chinese as a Topic-Prominent Language,” prepared and circulated for the 7th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, October, 1974; ( 2 ) “Subject and Topic: A New Typology of Language,” presented at the LSA Annual Meeting, New York, December, 1974; ( 3 ) “Evidence Against Topicalization in Topic-Prominent Languages,” circulated prio…

  • I wonder + indirect question: Action formation and action ascription

    Barbara A Fox, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLEResearch on Language and Social…2026

    This study explores the interactional work being done by speakers of American English when they use the format “IWIQ” (I wonder + indirect question; as in, “I wonder how that actually works”). IWIQs in our mundane conversational data are used for making a private, internal state or position publicly available, which in turn allows IWIQs to serve as vehicles for opening an opportunity space for the participants to join in speculating on the matter…

  • On the “next-turn proof procedure” in the analysis of social interaction: Trouble formulations in the context of practical activities

    Open AccessAlexandra Gubina, Arnulf Deppermann et al.ARTICLEResearch on Language and Social…2026

    Recipients’ understanding of speakers’ actions typically becomes publicly available through their responses, making the next-turn proof procedure central for the analysis of social interaction. However, little is known about how to methodologically warrant the analysis of actions with minimal or no response. This is particularly evident in case of trouble formulations. We examine trouble formulations in the context of practical activities, produc…

  • Transitivity in Grammar and discourse

    Open AccessPaul J Hopper, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLELanguage2025

    Transitivity involves a number of components, only one of which is the presence of an object of the verb. These components are all concerned with the effectiveness with which an action takes place, e.g., the punctuality and telicity of the verb, the conscious activity of the agent, and the referentiality and degree of affectedness of the object. These components co-vary with one another in language after language, which suggests that Transitivity…

  • What do speakers do with predicate nominal constructions in English conversation

    Open AccessScott A Thompson, Tsuyoshi OnoARTICLEDiscourse Studies2025References: 11

    In the tradition of Interactional Linguistics, we show how speakers make use of Predicate Nominal Constructions (PNCs) in American English conversation. We first provide a grammatical profile of PNCs as a highly frequent type of low-transitive clause in actual everyday use. We then bring evidence to show that, functionally, speakers use PNCs specifically to do two types of more semantic work (to identify or categorize a referent) and two types of…

  • Rhetorical structure theory: A framework for the analysis of texts

    Open AccessScott A Thompson, William C MannARTICLEIPrA Papers in Pragmatics2022

    Preview this article: Rhetorical structure theory, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/iprapip.1.1.03tho-1.gif

  • On formulating reference: An interactional approach to relative clauses in English conversation

    Open AccessBarbara A Fox, Scott A ThompsonARTICLEIPrA Papers in Pragmatics2022

    Preview this article: On formulating reference, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/iprapip.4.1-2.05fox-1.gif

  • Practices in the construction of turns: The “TCU” revisited

    Open AccessCecilia E Ford, Barbara A Fox et al.ARTICLEPragmatics Quarterly Publication…2022

    This study began with a simple question that has been on our minds, indMdually and collectively, for some time: What are the basic units of talk-in-conversation? Units in conversation must be understood as usable for the construction of joint activities, not merely as packages of information to be parsed. Features of turn construction are adapted to such functions as displaying responsiveness to other turns and making interpretable contributions …

  • Can temporal clauses be insubordinate: Evidence from English conversation

    Open AccessElizabeth Couper‐kuhlen, Scott A ThompsonARTICLEInteractional Linguistics2022References: 31

    In this paper we aim to determine whether temporal clauses can be shown to be insubordinate in everyday American English interaction. In order to investigate grammatical insubordination in conversation, we operationalize the notion of ‘insubordination’ as a specific practice for designing a turn-at-talk and implementing a social action. That is, we treat as ‘insubordinate’ a clause with a grammatically subordinate form that (a) is freestanding, t…

  • Something that’s very American: The interactional role of Light-Head Relative Clauses

    Open AccessBarend Beekhuizen, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLEDiscourse Studies2022References: 27

    In this paper, we examine a specific type of Relative Clause (RC). We look at the construction consisting of a ‘light noun’, that is, a noun with highly non-specific lexical content which does not do referential work, plus a relative clause. It has generally been assumed that the functional contribution of RCs is to narrow the set of referents of the head noun to only those for which the predicate of the RC holds true. However, the ‘Light Head RC…

  • The grammar of proposals for joint activities

    Open AccessScott A Thompson, Barbara A Fox et al.ARTICLEInteractional Linguistics2021Cited by: 5References: 41

    The action of proposing has been studied from various perspectives in research on talk-in-interaction, both in mundane as well as in institutional talk. Aiming to exemplify Interactional Linguistics as a drawing together of insights from Linguistics and Conversation Analysis, we explore the grammar of proposals and the stances displayed by participants in making proposals in the context of joint activities, where a future or hypothetical activity…

  • Interaction and Grammar: Predicative Adjective Constructions in English Conversation

    Open AccessJoan Bybee, Scott A ThompsonARTICLELanguages2021Cited by: 4References: 35

    This article studies the function of Copular Predicate Constructions in everyday English conversation. We compare predicate adjective constructions (PA) and constructions with a predicate nominal containing an adjective (PAN). We ask whether the attributive function of the adjective or the presence of a noun in the PAN leads to a difference in function in the two constructions. We propose that in most cases the adjective determines the function o…

  • Modulating action through minimization: Syntax in the service of offering and requesting

    Open AccessChase Wesley Raymond, Jeffrey D Robinson et al.ARTICLELanguage in Society2021Cited by: 8References: 78

    This study uses data from a shoe-repair shop, supplemented by data from medical and mundane contexts, to analyze three progressively minimal grammatical formats used to implement offers and requests in interaction (i.e.do you want...?,you want...?, andwant...?). We argue that this cline of minimality reflects a cline of the action-initiator's stance, from relatively weak to strong (respectively), regarding their expectation that the action will b…

  • Understanding ‘clause’ as an emergent ‘unit’ in everyday conversation

    Scott A Thompson, Sandra A ThompsonARTICLEStudies in Language2019

    Linguists generally assume ‘clause’ to be a basic unit for the analysis of grammatical structure. Data from natural conversations, however, suggests that ‘clause’ may not be grammaticized to the same extent across languages. Understanding ‘clause’ as a predicate (plus any arguments, inferred or expressed), we can show that participants do indeed organize their talk around ‘clauses’. I argue that English-speaking participants in everyday interacti…

  • Negative scope, temporality, fixedness, and right- and left-branching: Implications for typology and cognitive processing

    Tsuyoshi Ono, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLEStudies in Language2017

    ‘Negative scope’ concerns what it is that is negated in an utterance with a negative morpheme. With English and Japanese conversational data, we show that for an English speaker, calculating negative scope requires that recipients incrementally keep track of all the material in the clause that follows the negative morpheme, which comes early in the clause. In contrast, the negative morpheme comes late in the clause in Japanese; thus it would seem…

  • Reading the comments: Likers, Haters, and Manipulators at the Bottom Half of the Web

    Scott A ThompsonARTICLEConsumption Markets & Culture2017References: 5

    Reading the Comments is an exploration of the dark side of online comments in all their various forms. The author combines historical context with academic research, case studies, and personal expe

  • Language and bodily resources: Response packages’ in response to polar questions in English

    Open AccessElise Kärkkäinen, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLEJournal of Pragmatics2017Cited by: 8References: 27

  • Beyond dichotomies and continua: An interactional approach to the grammar of clause combining in Japanese

    Open AccessR Suzuki, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLELanguage Sciences2016Cited by: 1References: 8

  • Grammar in Everyday Talk: Building Responsive Actions

    Open AccessScott A Thompson, Sandra A Thompson et al.BOOKGrammar in Everyday Talk2015

    Drawing on everyday telephone and video interactions, this book surveys how English speakers use grammar to formulate responses in ordinary conversation. The authors show that speakers build their responses in a variety of ways: the responses can be longer or shorter, repetitive or not, and can be uttered with different intonational 'melodies'. Focusing on four sequence types: responses to questions ('What time are we leaving?' - 'Seven'), respon…

  • The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology

    Open AccessMark Aronoff, R M W Dixon et al.BOOKCambridge Handbook of Linguistic…2014

    The field of linguistic anthropology looks at human uniqueness and diversity through the lens of language, our species' special combination of art and instinct. Human language both shapes, and is shaped by, our minds, societies, and cultural worlds. This state-of-the-field survey covers a wide range of topics, approaches and theories, such as the nature and function of language systems, the relationship between language and social interaction, an…

  • Assertions from Discourse Structure

    Open AccessWilliam C Mann, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLEProceedings of the Annual Meeting…2014

    Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (1985), pp. 245-258

  • Reenactments in conversation: Gaze and recipiency

    Open AccessScott A Thompson, Sandra A Thompson et al.ARTICLEDiscourse Studies2014Cited by: 11References: 37

    In a reenactment, a speaker re-presents or depicts a previously occurring event, often dramatically. In this article we examine the role of gaze in reenactments in conversations from Japanese and American English. Following Goodwin in viewing a reenacted story as ‘a multi-modal, multi-party field of activity’, we show how tellers’ and recipients’ gaze during reenactments is deployed to achieve specific interactional ends. We argue that there are …

  • Turns and Increments: A Comparative Perspective

    Kang-Kwong Luke, Kang Kwong Luke et al.ARTICLEDiscourse Processes2012Cited by: 5References: 14

    Recent years have seen a surge of interest in “increments” among students of conversational interaction. This article first outlines “incrementing” as an analytical problem (i.e., as turn constructional unit [TCU] extensions) by tracing its origins back to Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson's (1974) famous turn-taking article. Then, the article summarizes and reviews Schegloff's recent publications and presentations, which revisited this problem, as…

  • Japanese Negotiation Through Emerging Final Particles in Everyday Talk

    Tsuyoshi Ono, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLEDiscourse Processes2012Cited by: 7References: 31

    This article focuses on the grammar of Japanese kara ‘because/so’ and kedo ‘but’, traditionally understood as conjunctive particles whose function is to mark a “subordinate” clause and connect it to a following “main” clause. This article shows that, in conversation, these forms are often used turn-finally without an apparent main clause and that they are grammaticizing into final particles functioning to yield a turn. Then lexicalized uses of ka…

  • Bodily-Visual Practices and Turn Continuation

    Cecilia E Ford, Scott A Thompson et al.ARTICLEDiscourse Processes2012Cited by: 11References: 35

    This paper considers points in turn construction where conversation researchers have shown that talk routinely continues beyond possible turn completion, but where we find bodily-visual behavior doing such turn extension work. The bodily-visual behaviors we examine share many features with verbal turn extensions, but we argue that embodied movements have distinct properties that make them well-suited for specific kinds of social action, including…