ABSTRACT
Turning to what increments are doing interactionally, it is demonstrated that Chinese increments do stance modulation, clarification, or pursuing recipient uptake, which are known functions found in other languages as well. Additionally, it is found that Chinese increments can reformulate the action from the one originally in the host-TCU. A key argument is how each instantiation of increment can do more than just one thing in the sequence, where some prima facie functions can act as “vehicles” to carry out more nuanced interactional goals. However, when seen as a reparative operation on the host-TCU, it is argued that incrementing is a type of “embedded” transition-space repair.
