Lists are a recurrent interactional pattern across languages, including Spanish. Despite their occasional study, one of their key components, generalized list completers, has been mentioned only in passing. The supposed preference for three-partedness has not been explored quantitatively either. Here, I begin to fill these gaps by exploring list-construction in Spanish. From a theoretical standpoint, I propose the categorization of generalized list completers into exhaustive and non-exhaustive. Practically, I focus on the generalized list completer y ya está (“and that’s it”) and its role in making lists three-parted. The present investigation sets out to contribute to the scarce investigation into lists, in general, and lists in Spanish, in particular, by accounting for the meaning conveyed by Spanish lists as a situated practice in interaction.
AlbertSde RuiterJP (2018) Repair: The interface between interaction and cognition. Topics in Cognitive Science10: 279–313.
2.
Alvarado OrtegaB (2003) Las fórmulas discursivas de transición en el español hablado de Alicante. Interlingüística14: 97–106.
3.
BertrandRPriego-ValverdeB (2017) Listing practice in French conversation: From collaborative achievement to interactional convergence. Discours. Revue de linguistique, psycholinguistique et informatique. A journal of linguistics, psycholinguistics and computational linguistics20: 3–33.
4.
Briz GómezA (2022) El marcador discursivo “tío/a” en la conversación coloquial española: tipo de unidad discursiva, posición y función. Oralia: Análisis del discurso oral25: 33–64.
5.
Cortés RodríguezL (2005) La serie enumerativa: cuestiones de partida. In: RíoLSNietoJBSantosJFG, et al. (eds) Palabras, Norma, Discurso. En Memoria de Fernando Lázaro Carreter. Universidad de Salamanca, pp.365–380.
6.
Cortés RodríguezLÁlvarez-RosaCV (2022) La serie enumerativa desde la perspectiva informativo-interactiva. Boletín de Filología57: 289–314.
7.
Couper-KuhlenE (2014) What does grammar tell us about action?Pragmatics24: 623–647.
8.
Couper-KuhlenESeltingM (2018) Interactional Linguistics, 1st edn. Cambridge University Press.
9.
Domínguez MujicaCL (2005) Marcadores de (in)conclusión en el español hablado en Mérida-Venezuela. Boletín de lingüística17(23): 3–22.
10.
DrewP (2010) Turn design/form, and the recognition of action: Some brief observations (top down or bottom up?).
11.
DrewP (2013) Conversation analysis and social action. Journal of Foreign Languages37: 2–18.
12.
HeritageJ (1984) Oh-prefaced responses to assessments: A method of modifying agreement/disagreement. In: FordCEFoxBAThompsonSA (eds) The Language of Turn and Sequence. Oxford University Press, pp.196–224.
13.
Hidalgo NavarroA (2008) Algo más sobre la función demarcativo-integradora de la entonación: el caso de las series enumerativas. In: Actas del XXXVII Simposio Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Lingüística (SEL), Pamplona, pp.355–364. Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Navarra.
14.
JeffersonG (1990) List construction as a task and resource. In: PsathasG (ed.) Interaction Competence. Bloomsbury Academic, pp.63–92.
15.
JeffersonG (2004) Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In: LernerGH (ed.) Conversation Analysis: Studies from the First Generation. Pragmatics & Beyond New Series. John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp.13–31.
16.
LernerGH (1994) Responsive list construction. Journal of Language and Social Psychology1: 20–33.
17.
LernerGH (1995) Turn design and the organization of participation in instructional activities. Discourse Processes19: 111–131.
18.
LevinsonSC (2013) Action formation and ascription. In: SidnellJStiversT (eds) The Handbook of Conversation Analysis. Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell, pp.103–130.
19.
Llopis CardonaAPons BorderíaS (2020) La gramaticalización de “macho” y “tío/a” como ciclo semántico-pragmático. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación82: 151–164.
20.
Montañez MesasMP (2015) Marcadores discursivos conversacionales y posición final. Hacia una caracterización discursiva de sus funciones en unidades del habla. Universitat de València.
21.
RaymondCW (2018) Bueno -, pues -, and bueno-pues -prefacing in Spanish conversation. In: HeritageJSorjonenM-L (eds) Studies in Language and Social Interaction. John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp.59–96.
22.
Sánchez AyalaI (2003) Constructions as resources for interaction: Lists in English and Spanish Conversation. Discourse Studies5: 323–349.
23.
SchiffrinD (1994) Making a list. Discourse Processes17: 377–406.
24.
SeltingM (2004) Listen: Sequenzielle und prosodische Struktur einer kommunikativen Praktik – eine Untersuchung im Rahmen der Interaktionalen Linguistik. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft23: 1–46.
25.
SeltingM (2007) Lists as embedded structures and the prosody of list construction as an interactional resource. Journal of Pragmatics39: 483–526.
26.
Server BenetóN (2025) Storytelling, lists, and the role of Catalan final particle i au. Interactional Linguistics. Epub ahead of print 3 June 2025. DOI: 10.1075/il.24012.ser.
27.
StiversT (2008) Stance, alignment, and affiliation during storytelling: When nodding is a token of affiliation. Research on Language and Social Interaction41: 31–57.
