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Pragmatics is a subdivision of linguistics that studies the relationship between sentences and their environment. Adjacency pairs are a common type of relationship where the first round requires a specific response, limiting the choice of sensible answers in the second round. Different types of adjacency pairs include greetings, questions, and evaluations. Grounding must exist between initiator and responder to stimulate adjacency pairs, and sometimes a significant silence may suggest reluctance or generate further pairs.
Linguistics, or the study of the nature and structure of human language, can be divided into topics. One such subdivision, pragmatics, describes the relation of sentences to the environment in which they occur; a common type of relationship is known as an “adjacency pair.” In this relationship, a proposed thought or question, known as the first round, requires a specific type of response, chosen on the basis of logic and flow: this is the second round. This answer usually follows the first round closely. Also, the first round limits the choice of sensible answers given in the second round.
Adjacency pairs take on a variety of flavors. There’s the couple greetings, where Billy asks how Suzie is and to which she replies, “Fine.” The question variety has Jackie asking what’s for dinner and her mother answering, “Meatloaf.” Theresa demands to know, using the adjacency couple’s complaint form, why Geraldo ate his chocolate bar, with his brother replying that he did no such thing. Other types of adjacency pairs include the invite, summon, and evaluation varieties.
In the Adjacency Couple evaluation variety, Joe wants to know how his mom’s car runs since he put in a new alternator. Clearly what is called grounding must exist between initiator and responder in order to stimulate adjacency pairs. Strangers may share a foundation or commonality, but only in a very limited way. A businessman might ask, “How can I help you?” In a barbershop in a strange city, time is suddenly of great importance, leading to a question of adjacency.
Sometimes the first turn in an adjacency pair elicits a response only after what is termed a “significant silence.” The pregnant pause may suggest a reluctance on the part of the defendant to accept the premise. To illustrate, a young man invites a young woman to view her coin collection in her bachelor pad. She pauses for a second or so before responding with the statement that she can’t do it. You can give yourself an answer that seems plausible, but it’s not what the young man hoped for.
This pause suggests that the immediately following answer will be “wasted”. The respondent needed time to think of a plausible excuse. This can stimulate the initiator to generate further adjacency pairs to clarify the meaning behind his first effort. In addition to simply gaining insight into the respondent’s thinking, extensive and subtle use of adjacency pairs is sometimes made with a measure of emotional pressure to overcome unwelcome responses.
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