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Negation

95c

Absolutely

, certainly and definitely may be negated as response tokens by adding

not

:

[speaker A is considering buying a CD player for the first time]

A: … but then I’d have to go out and buy lots of CDs wouldn’t I?

B: Well yes. I suppose you would. 

A: There’s no point in having a thing if you can’t play them. Haven’t got any. 

B: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. 

[discussing the difficulty of studying in the evenings after working all day in a

day job]

A: Seven o’clock in the evening after a day at work is not really quite what you

need, is it?

B: No.

A: Hm.

B: Definitely not.

A: No.

Pairs and clusters

95d

Response tokens often occur in pairs. This is particularly evident when a topic is

being closed down or at a boundary in the talk when another topic is introduced.

The pair function both to signal a boundary and to add satisfaction or agreement

or simply to express friendly social support. Occasionally, triple response tokens

occur:

190 | From utterance to discourse

Cambridge Grammar of English

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[waiter (A) and customer (B) in a restaurant]

A: If you need some more just order some more. All right?

B: Right. Fine.

A: Okay. Thank you.

B: Thank you.

A: You’re welcome.

[couple asking permission to look at a disused railway line]

A: It went through, it goes through. Straight, straight on.

B: Right. Wonderful. Great. Can we look round then?

A: Yes certainly.

B: Thank you.

Response tokens may also cluster in consecutive series across speakers, providing

multiple signals that a conversation is about to be terminated while at the same

time consolidating interpersonal relationships. Often they occur together with

other markers of closure such as thanks, checks, confirmations and greetings.

Clustering is especially frequent in telephone conversations, where there are often

pre-closing and closing routines:

The = sign indicates an utterance which is cut short

[telephone call concerning a printing order]

A: Do you think it needs editing?

B: Erm I shouldn’t think so.

A: Good. Brilliant. Okay, well I’ll be round to pick it up.

B: Okay.

A: Pick it up today.

B: Okay Jack.

A: Have you got the compliment slips?

B: Yes.

A: On all er=

B: They they look very good.

A: Great. Yes.

B: Fabulous.

A: All right. [laughs]

B: Okay. Thanks for that.

A: Okay Len.

B: Cheers.

A: Bye.

(all right and okay may be seen as pre-closing; cheers and bye close the call)

[giving street directions]

A: You’ll come to a stop sign, take a right and just follow it all the way out.

B: Oh. Perfect.

C: Great.

B: That’s excellent. Thank you very much.

C: Thank you so much. Thanks.