Interaction Sequences and Joint Attention

We set forth two analytic frameworks — one pertaining to sequences of steps in a discourse AND one to common attention — to which triggers have specific relations. The framework pertaining to discourse sequences can be outlined as follows. A simplex morpheme or larger construction can be lexicalized to require either an inner or an outer sequence, which in turn can be either a single-actor or a cross-actor sequence. An interaction sequence, then, is an outer cross-actor sequence in which two collocutors alternate steps in the sequence. The steps of an interaction sequence can be either all overt or in part covert, and overt steps can be either all verbal actions or in part nonverbal actions. A step can in turn consist of a sequence of overt or covert components.