When “friends” are not just friends: Managing categorial inferences in the context of third-person reference

Drawing on ethnomethodological and conversation analytic research on the intersection of person reference and membership categorization, this study elucidates how participants manage categorial inferences when referring to a third person. To achieve this aim, I examine sequences in which the membership category term tomodachi (“friend[s]” in Japanese) is used as a third-person reference form and later reformulated or elaborated upon. The analysis demonstrates that such reference reformulation and elaboration help manage categorial inferences by clarifying a categorial inference tacitly employed by a speaker, adjusting the applicability of a categorial inference to a specific person, or invoking a new categorial inference. Such management of categorial inferences can contribute to speakers’ action formation in interaction. The findings suggest that categorial inferences may concern normative associations between multiple membership categories within different membership categorization devices.