Extreme case formulations in Cypriot Greek

Abstract

This article is concerned with Extreme Case Formulations (ECFs) (Edwards, 2000; Pomerantz, 1986) in spontaneous Cypriot Greek conversations.1 This study confirms the occurrence of ECFs in complaints as identified by Edwards (2000) Pomerantz (1986), but goes one step further to analyse the sequential and interaction work accomplished with ECFs in reporting “opposition-type stories” (Schegloff, 1984) and in complaining about a non-present party's misbehaviour. Opposition-type stories report the oppositional conversation of the teller with a third non-present party (id.). Interestingly, in the conversational extracts examined in this study, the conversation reported is culminated with the opponent's reported extreme claim (ECF) occupying the last turn. The occurrence of an ECF at that marked place, that is, at the punchline of the telling, is associated with issues of affiliation and stance since it is placed exactly before the recipient's slot upon story completion, which is a regular place for the occurrence of evaluation (Schegloff, 1984).