Park Jae-eun. 2013. On prolonging in Korean conversation. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 21(3). This paper explores the systematic retardation of turn progression in Korean conversation, focusing on the phenomenon of prolonging. Prolonging is defined as a practice whereby speakers suspend the progression of a turn toward a possible completion particularly by drawing on sound stretches as a primary resource. The analysis of data shows that prolonging, observed at a point where the action is more or less recognizable, is used to reinforce the speaker's epistemic or affective stance as well as to project dispreferredness in a way that delays the arrival of a transition-relevance place. I argue that prolonging can be employed at any word boundary as long as the emergent action is recognizable and that it serves as a basis for understanding how readily a turn can be manipulated in the service of practical social actions in Korean conversation. (137 words)

• Park Jae-eun(Kangnam University) | 박재은