Interrogative allo-repetitions in Mexican Spanish

Abstract

This article is a contribution to discourse analysis from the viewpoint of recent developments in the study of verbal (im)politeness in the Spanish-speaking world. It analyzes the discourse functions of interrogative allo-repetitions in a corpus of oral Mexican Spanish from the perspective of both their conversational role as repair mechanisms and as linguistic strategies to convey politeness or impoliteness in interaction. The main findings of this research are that interrogative allo-repetitions fulfill different politeness (i.e. face-saving, face-flattering, or face-threatening) strategies depending not only on their conversational function (true vs. fictitious repair mechanisms), but also – and most importantly – on the type of verbal interaction and cultural settings in which they take place, as well as the relationship between participants.