Shared Knowledge as an Account for Disaffiliative Moves: Hebrew ki ‘Because’-Clauses Accompanied by the Palm-Up Open-Hand Gesture

Abstract

Exploring the grammar–body interface, the present study examines employment of Hebrew causal clauses prefaced by the conjunction ki “because” in responsive disaffiliative moves. We show that in such environments, ki-clauses tend to convey information that appeals to the participants’ shared knowledge and to be accompanied by the Palm Up Open Hand gesture (PUOH). We argue that the PUOH in such contexts constitutes an embodied epistemic stance marker functioning to present the account prefaced by ki as based on shared knowledge, in pursuit of intersubjectivity and a shared perspective. The reference to shared epistemic access implies an interpretation of the disaffiliative move as reasonable under the circumstances provided by the account, inviting co-participants to display affiliation. The study thus validates that causality is a socially constructed, complex configuration that may include the speaker’s epistemic stance toward the actions accomplished in an interaction and suggests an interactional source for their interrelatedness. Data are in Hebrew.