What is a gap?

Definition
	A gap is conversational silence at the end of a turn in a situation in which
	no next speaker has been selected by the previous one no participant has selected himself or herself as the next speaker, and the silence is too short to constitute a lapse.

Generic
	A gap is a kind of
	What is a switching pause?

Sources
	Levinson 1983 299
	Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson 1978 25

Context for this page:

Concept module: gap
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): G
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

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