Chapter 11. Highlighting beginning, end, or transition in-between

Abstract

This study presents a cross-linguistic analysis of episode- and topic-shift conceptions based on two types of spoken discourse (narrative and conversational) in English, Ainu, and Japanese. Markers of episode/topic-shift can serve to highlight different phases of episode/topic boundaries in conceptual terms: the end of a preceding episode/topic, the beginning of a newly introduced episode/topic, or a transitional phase between them. Ainu tends to manifest an end-oriented conception of both topic-shift in conversation and episode-shift in narrative. Japanese also exhibits a similar inclination in conversation, though not in narrative. English prefers a beginning-oriented conception of episode/topic-shift in both conversation and narrative with little inclination toward an end-oriented conception.