Pragmalinguistic functions of silence in conversational narratives of Chilean speakers: a taxonomic proposal

Abstract

This article presents the study of the pragmalinguistic functions of the silence as a pragmatic sign in conversational narratives out of personal experiences produced by speakers from Santiago de Chile. Starting from the analysis of 27 videorecording narrations it was possible to identify the linguistic, non-verbal, and situational traits that define the meaning of silence and to propose a taxonomy of functions based on the theory of prototypes. The main findings account for the existence of at least 10 types of silences—some more prototypical than others—defined by the pragmatic functions that they play in the genre of conversational narrative. Such types can be organized into four categories: structuring silences of the conversation, structuring silences of the narrative, discursive silences and cognitive silences. It is the structuring silences of the narrative that operate as a prototype of the field of study.