Delineating categories in verbal interaction

Abstract

The two purposes of this paper are to define the scope of the analytical concept of category and to consider the use of categories in talk. I start by discussing different ways that the concept of category is used in fields such as linguistics and philosophy and arguing that the concept should not be limited to categories of person. I then argue that for a conversation analytic approach to discourse, what is important is that an item is treated by participants either as a category with members or as a member of a category. Next, I examine how structures of categories and category members are built by participants through their talk. Finally, I consider doing definitions as a specific activity which can be accomplished in talk through the construction of categories.