This page provides direct access to all publication outcomes of the project. These include several collaborative papers combining qualitative and quantitative methods; a special issue with in-depth descriptions of the repair system in 10 languages; and some public outreach pieces aimed at a general audience. Or you can check the list of all papers. All of the work is available in PDF and many of it appeared in open access venues, in line with our aim to remove barriers in access to science.


Multi-authored

One type of output of this team science project has been multi-authored collaborative papers. Some of these cover as many languages as possible, with contributions from a wide range of authors. Other papers reflect smaller-scale collaborations that focused on particular phenomena. All combine qualitative and quantitative methods.

Enfield, N. J., Dingemanse, M., Baranova, J., Blythe, J., Brown, P., Dirksmeyer, T., Drew, P., Floyd, S., Gipper, S., Gísladóttir, R., Hoymann, G., Kendrick, K. H., Levinson, S. C., Magyari, L., Manrique, E., Rossi, G., San Roque, L., & Torreira, F. (2013). Huh? What? – A first survey in twenty-one languages. In M. Hayashi, G. Raymond, & J. Sidnell (Eds.), Conversational Repair and Human Understanding (pp. 343–380). Cambridge University Press. Cite PDF
Dingemanse, M., Torreira, F., & Enfield, N. J. (2013). Is “Huh?” a universal word? Conversational infrastructure and the convergent evolution of linguistic items. PLOS ONE, 8(11), e78273. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078273 Cite
Dingemanse, M., Blythe, J., & Dirksmeyer, T. (2014). Formats for other-initiation of repair across languages: An exercise in pragmatic typology. Studies in Language, 38(1), 5–43. doi: 10.1075/sl.38.1.01din Cite PDF
Dingemanse, M., Roberts, S. G., Baranova, J., Blythe, J., Drew, P., Floyd, S., Gisladottir, R. S., Kendrick, K. H., Levinson, S. C., Manrique, E., Rossi, G., & Enfield, N. J. (2015). Universal Principles in the Repair of Communication Problems. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0136100. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136100 Cite
Manrique, E., & Enfield, N. J. (2015). Suspending the next turn as a form of repair initiation: evidence from Argentine Sign Language. Frontiers in Psychology: Language Sciences, 6, 1326. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01326 Cite
Floyd, S., Manrique, E., Rossi, G., & Torreira, F. (2016). Timing of Visual Bodily Behavior in Repair Sequences: Evidence From Three Languages. Discourse Processes, 53(3), 175–204. doi: 10.1080/0163853X.2014.992680 Cite PDF

Highlights. The paper ‘Huh? What? A first survey in 21 languages’ (2013) was described in a review as “particularly deserving of readers’ attention” and “a good start and model for cross-language studies in conversation analysis” (Zhou & Yu, 2015). The paper ‘Is ‘Huh?’ a universal word?’ (2013) was described as “the most comprehensive comparative CA study to date” (Kasper & Wagner 2014:184). Its first submission was rejected with the following note: “although this work is interesting, it does not have the broad appeal needed for PNAS”. It received global media coverage when it came out a few months later.

The paper ‘Formats for other-initiation of repair’ (2014) was selected for inclusion in the Routledge anthology Critical Concepts in Linguistics. The paper ‘Universal principles’ (2015) received press coverage in 2015 for its documentation of ‘a whole other kind of linguistic universal’ (NPR). The papers ‘Suspending the next turn’ (2016) and ‘The timing of visual bodily behaviour’ (2016) show the importance of sequentially organized embodied behaviour in signed and spoken languages alike.


Special issue of Open Linguistics

One of the primary outcomes of the project was a special issue of Open Linguistics hosting a collection of qualitative papers detailing the other-initiated repair system in 10 distinct languages. The introduction set out the project’s approach to pragmatic typology. The individual papers enabled project members to present detailed qualitative analyses of the repair system in all its particulars. The special issue also contains the inductively derived coding scheme that underlies the comparative and quantitative findings.

A note on open access. This collection was the first special issue of Open Linguistics, then a brand new Mouton De Gruyter journal. While we had an expression of interest from a more established Elsevier-owned venue, we pivoted to open access to reflect our evolving understanding of the deeply problematic nature of Elsevier’s business practices (see the cost of knowledge).

Gisladottir, R. S. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Icelandic. Open Linguistics, 1, 309–328. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0004
Rossi, G. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Italian. Open Linguistics, 1, 256–282. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0002
Dingemanse, M., & Enfield, N. J. (2015). Other-initiated repair across languages: towards a typology of conversational structures. Open Linguistics, 1, 98–118. doi: 10.2478/opli-2014-0007
Kendrick, K. H. (2015). Other-initiated repair in English. Open Linguistics, 1, 164–190. doi: 10.2478/opli-2014-0009
Dingemanse, M. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Siwu. Open Linguistics, 1, 232–255. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0001
Enfield, N. J. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Lao. Open Linguistics, 1, 119–144. doi: 10.2478/opli-2014-0006
Floyd, S. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Cha’palaa. Open Linguistics, 1, 467–489. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0014
Blythe, J. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Murrinh-Patha. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 283–308. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0003
Levinson, S. C. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Yélî Dnye: Seeing eye-to-eye in the language of Rossel Island. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 386–410. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0009
Baranova, J. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Russian. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 555–577. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0019
Dingemanse, M., Kendrick, K. H., & Enfield, N. J. (2016). A coding scheme for other-initiated repair across languages. Open Linguistics, 2, 35–46. doi: 10.1515/opli-2016-0002
Manrique, E. (2016). Other-initiated repair in Argentine Sign Language. Open Linguistics, 2(1), 1–34. doi: 10.1515/opli-2016-0001

Public outreach

We wrote about the larger project in Scientific American Mind (translated in Gehirn & Geist), The Conversation, and American Scientist. Following the media coverage of some of our work, we also maintain a “frequently asked questions” page.

Dingemanse, M. (2013). Frequently Asked Questions. Is Huh? A Universal Word? Cite
Dingemanse, M., & Enfield, N. J. (2014). Let’s Talk: Universal Social Rules Underlie Languages. Scientific American Mind, 25, 64–69. doi: 10.1038/scientificamericanmind0914-64 Cite
Enfield, N. (2015). From "Huh?" to "Who?": the universal utterances that keep us talking. The Conversation. Cite
Dingemanse, M., & Enfield, N. J. (2015). Ungeschriebene Gesetze. Gehirn & Geist, 8, 34–39. Cite
Enfield, N. J. (2019). Huh? Is That a Universal Word? American Scientist, 107(3), 178. doi: 10.1511/2019.107.3.178 Cite

All papers

A complete list of all published output follows below.

Enfield, N. J., Dingemanse, M., Baranova, J., Blythe, J., Brown, P., Dirksmeyer, T., Drew, P., Floyd, S., Gipper, S., Gísladóttir, R., Hoymann, G., Kendrick, K. H., Levinson, S. C., Magyari, L., Manrique, E., Rossi, G., San Roque, L., & Torreira, F. (2013). Huh? What? – A first survey in twenty-one languages. In M. Hayashi, G. Raymond, & J. Sidnell (Eds.), Conversational Repair and Human Understanding (pp. 343–380). Cambridge University Press. Cite PDF
Dingemanse, M., Torreira, F., & Enfield, N. J. (2013). Is “Huh?” a universal word? Conversational infrastructure and the convergent evolution of linguistic items. PLOS ONE, 8(11), e78273. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078273 Cite
Dingemanse, M., Blythe, J., & Dirksmeyer, T. (2014). Formats for other-initiation of repair across languages: An exercise in pragmatic typology. Studies in Language, 38(1), 5–43. doi: 10.1075/sl.38.1.01din Cite PDF
Dingemanse, M., & Floyd, S. (2014). Conversation across cultures. In N. J. Enfield, P. Kockelman, & J. Sidnell (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology (pp. 434–464). Cambridge University Press. Cite PDF
Dingemanse, M., Roberts, S. G., Baranova, J., Blythe, J., Drew, P., Floyd, S., Gisladottir, R. S., Kendrick, K. H., Levinson, S. C., Manrique, E., Rossi, G., & Enfield, N. J. (2015). Universal Principles in the Repair of Communication Problems. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0136100. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136100 Cite
Manrique, E., & Enfield, N. J. (2015). Suspending the next turn as a form of repair initiation: evidence from Argentine Sign Language. Frontiers in Psychology: Language Sciences, 6, 1326. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01326 Cite
Gisladottir, R. S. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Icelandic. Open Linguistics, 1, 309–328. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0004 Cite
Rossi, G. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Italian. Open Linguistics, 1, 256–282. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0002 Cite
Dingemanse, M., & Enfield, N. J. (2015). Other-initiated repair across languages: towards a typology of conversational structures. Open Linguistics, 1, 98–118. doi: 10.2478/opli-2014-0007 Cite
Kendrick, K. H. (2015). Other-initiated repair in English. Open Linguistics, 1, 164–190. doi: 10.2478/opli-2014-0009 Cite
Dingemanse, M. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Siwu. Open Linguistics, 1, 232–255. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0001 Cite
Enfield, N. J. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Lao. Open Linguistics, 1, 119–144. doi: 10.2478/opli-2014-0006 Cite
Floyd, S. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Cha’palaa. Open Linguistics, 1, 467–489. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0014 Cite
Blythe, J. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Murrinh-Patha. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 283–308. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0003 Cite
Levinson, S. C. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Yélî Dnye: Seeing eye-to-eye in the language of Rossel Island. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 386–410. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0009 Cite
Baranova, J. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Russian. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 555–577. doi: 10.1515/opli-2015-0019 Cite
Dingemanse, M., Kendrick, K. H., & Enfield, N. J. (2016). A coding scheme for other-initiated repair across languages. Open Linguistics, 2, 35–46. doi: 10.1515/opli-2016-0002 Cite
Manrique, E. (2016). Other-initiated repair in Argentine Sign Language. Open Linguistics, 2(1), 1–34. doi: 10.1515/opli-2016-0001 Cite
Floyd, S., Manrique, E., Rossi, G., & Torreira, F. (2016). Timing of Visual Bodily Behavior in Repair Sequences: Evidence From Three Languages. Discourse Processes, 53(3), 175–204. doi: 10.1080/0163853X.2014.992680 Cite PDF
Dingemanse, M. (2017). Brain-to-brain interfaces and the role of language in distributing agency. In N. J. Enfield & P. Kockelman (Eds.), Distributed Agency (pp. 59–66). Oxford University Press. Cite PDF