Trajectories of request for reconfirmation sequences in Yurakaré: Do repeats reduce information rate in conversation?

This paper investigates the role of repeat format in contextualizing degrees of informativity in Yurakaré (isolate, Bolivia) request for reconfirmation sequences. Requests for reconfirmation constitute a subtype of newsmarks, inviting at least a reconfirming response by the interlocutor. Across languages, there are two main competing formats for formulating requests for reconfirmation and other responsive actions in conversation: repeats and conventionalized formats such as response particles. Given that repeats restate (part of) a proposition while at the same time being informationally redundant, they have the capacity of explicitly spreading information across various turns. With these properties, repeats may potentially be employed in conversation to reduce peaks in information rate. This hypothesis is explored in this paper for Yurakaré request for reconfirmation sequences. The results, however, suggest that repeat format in the request for reconfirmation and the reconfirming response does not participate in the contextualization of degrees of informativity in Yurakaré request for reconfirmation sequences. • In Yurakaré, repeats are not associated with contextualizing high informativity in request for reconfirmation sequences. • Thus, repeats are not necessarily employed for reducing information rate in conversation. • Choice of response format in Yurakaré request for reconfirmation sequences can in part be explained by sequential timing.