Making up one’s mind in second position : Estonian no-preface in action plans

This chapter discusses preferred responses that are delayed by the initial particle no in Estonian. It demonstrates that the turn-initial time-space may be employed for a display of “making up one’s mind”, either weighing matters outside the conversation or something already discussed in the talk. The paper argues that besides the dichotomous choice between the preferred and the dispreferred answer format, there are individual contingencies to consider in committing to future actions as made relevant in requests, proposals and suggestions. The particle no prefaces preferred second actions that are associated with high contingency for the concerned parties, or are framed as such. Examples of high contingency include receiving a guest, attending a potentially unpleasant meeting, and faking a signature. The no-prefacing pattern is valid across response types, from partial to full repeats and independently formatted responses which reflect other social dimensions of talk-in-interaction, such as independent agency, commitment, and degree of assent/confirmation. By marking a transition from prior resistance to current compliance with a no-preface, the speaker makes salient that she is currently considering whether to proceed to a complying or non-complying answer, as well as indexes a more global transition between these two standpoints. The resulting turn gives an appearance of a carefully considered and therefore socially cohesive response