Semantic Drift in Conversations

The liability of the meaning of words has been a longstanding topic in ethnomethodology, and this review provides many specific details while analyzing the drift of the sense of words over the course of naturally occurring conversations. Ethnomethodologists do not see equivocality in the meaning of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human studies 2012-05, Vol.35 (2), p.263-277
Main Author: Liberman, Kenneth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communication
Conversation
Education
Equivocality
Ethnomethodology
Fingers
Indexicality
Interpersonal communication
Meaning
Memorial
Methods
Modern Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy of the Social Sciences
Political Philosophy
Privilege
Reflexivity
Semantic change
Semantics
Semiotic signs
Semiotics
Signification
Social interaction
Sociolinguistics
Word meaning
Words
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Summary:The liability of the meaning of words has been a longstanding topic in ethnomethodology, and this review provides many specific details while analyzing the drift of the sense of words over the course of naturally occurring conversations. Ethnomethodologists do not see equivocality in the meaning of words merely as a problem for members, but they recognize that it is a resource for parties in their organizing the local interaction. Through the use of many concrete illustrations, an account of this pervasive phenomenon makes clear just-how sense develops, evolves over the course of an interaction, and is used to organize the local orderliness. Some ethnomethods used by parties to tame the developing sense for practical purposes are described and analyzed. Especially, the reflexive properties of sense-establishment are identified and described, along with their material details, and the opportunism of parties in taking advantage of the semiotic play of their talk is summarized. Finally, the components of a model for analyzing communication intersubjectively are presented.
ISSN:0163-8548
1572-851X
DOI:10.1007/s10746-012-9225-1