The interactional handling of misunderstanding in everyday conversations

In this paper, we will deal with the handling - within the conversational i nteraction - of linguistic misunderstanding, on the basis of an Italian cor pus. The following aspects of this process will be analyzed: the author of the repair, the phases of negotiation (i.e. "the negotiation cycle of misun derstanding"), the collocation of the repair (third and fourth turn repairs are the most common patterns), linguistic and non-linguistic misunderstand ing. A general distinction will be drawn between coming to understanding, unders tanding and misunderstanding on the one hand, and non-understanding on the other. In conclusion, misunderstanding, as a 'form of understanding' intern al to the process of comprehension, which has to be monitored and negotiate d interactionally, should not be seen as a polar process (absence/presence of comprehension) but, rather, as a continuum. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.