Claiming Epistemic Independence Through <i>Ani Kuntey–</i> Prefaced Turns in Korean

This study explores the interactive role performed by the Korean preface ani kuntey in turn-initial position. Based on our data, we argue that ani kuntey functions to display epistemic independence ( Heritage, 2002 ) in response to assessments and informing. Past research on ani(“no”)-initiated turns in Korean ( Kim, 2013 ) has affirmed that ani prefaces may be used to resist the propositions or challenges conveyed by the prior turn(s). The current study demonstrates that when ani(no) is used in combination with kuntey (but), the consecutive uses of negations (“no” followed by “but”) following a prior assessment or telling displays the speaker's independent epistemic position. We argue that the key functions of turn-initial ani kuntey in Korean are to convey independent yet aligning contributions to the ongoing talk. The findings of this study may contribute to prior research on conversation analysis regarding the relevance of epistemics in understanding the role of grammatical features (i.e., turn-initial particles) employed in interaction and cross-linguistic studies on turn-initial prefaces.