Va bene and va be’ in closing sequences. In between response tokens and pre-closing signals

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present an initial analysis of the Italian discourse markers va bene and va be’ in closing sequences in dialogues. The overlap between the use as a response token and as a pre-closing signal will be discussed. It is shown that the two forms share these two general uses, but that there are contextual differences, which could be a result of their different values of acceptance and partial acceptance respectively. The point of departure is a descriptive analysis of the elements in interactional linguistic contexts. In the light of theoretical approaches such as conversational analysis, and specifically the theories on conversational closings and response tokens, the occurrences of the markers are studied in detail, having been retrieved from the corpus LIP (Lessico di frequenza dell’italiano parlato). Apart from being used for clear discourse-organizing purposes, functioning as a pre-closing signals, va bene and va be’ are frequently used as response tokens in closing sequences, and also when the orientation towards a closure is already manifested. They seem to have a ‘closing value’, which may be stronger in comparison with other response tokens. The scope of the marker is important when establishing their use as pre-closing signals; they can (partially) accept the previous turn or the entire discourse/conversation.

Keywords: discourse markers, response tokens, conversational closings, Italian, conversation analysis.