4.3.1.4 TCU and TRP, Completion Point
As has been explained in the previous part that TCU has two features, they are, it has projectability and brings into play TRP, this TCU is linked with the taking of turn
or turn-taking in the following ways. By TCU, participants can project where it will end, and thus a particular turn might possibly be complete. At this point a particular
turn can be recognized as the potential end of turn where transition from one speaker to another becomes relevant, as what is called Transition Relevance Place TRP. So what
makes TCU; words, phrases, clauses, and sentences would end in completion point. In accordance with the linguistic units that build TCU, completion points such
as, grammatical, intonatioanal, and semantic play an important role in bridging such units- linguistic with interaction, because at these points the local management of turn-
taking is conducted through turn-taking rules. So after the completion points TRP takes place in which the speaker changes are possible. The first possible completion point
leads to initial transition-relevance place. From the data in Toba Batak conversation, it is not always that there should be a
transition from one speaker to another at completion points. It is true since completion points indicated by cues of the linguistic properties are not necessarily accompanied by
the actual turn-transitions Furo, 2001. At this point turn-taking rule is applied to understand the smooth process of turn-taking. In this discussion it is important to see
how the ends of turn projected in terms of grammatical, intonational, and semantic completion point.
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From the analysis and findings, the link between linguistic properties and interaction of Toba Batak conversation can be indicated by grammatical, intonational,
and semantic completion point. The three completion points are conjunction points which concur before the speaker changes, and called Complex Transition Relevance
Places abbreviated as CTRPs Ford and Thompson, 1996, as cited in Furo, 2001: 37. How the completion point are related, it can be discussed below.
First, grammatical completion point is related with intonational completion point, and semantic completion point. One of grammatical completion points is marked
after a well-formed clause which can be found in excerpt 42 line 12; Ai ise namakkatai i? ‘Who is talking’? In conversation, the recipient of this question will understand that
the reconizable action would end after the verb or predicate, namakkatai i, because without a verb, the sentence is ill-formed, as the question word ise preceded by particle
ai should be followed by verb or predicate. The grammatical completion point above concurs with intonation completion point which is marked after the sustained
intonation or weaker intonation than that of rising. One of semantic completion points is marked with floor-right, that is, when the
right of speaker expires, at this place there is a completion point. This is indicated by such expiration marker; question as directed to listener would give the floor to the
listener and at the same time the right of the speaker expires. So, in the above example, three completion points occur simultaneously- grammatical, intonational, and semantic
completion point.
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Grammatical completion point is marked with ‘’, intonational completion point with ‘?’, and semantic completion point with ‘’. The conjunction points which relate
the three completion points, called CTRPs, are marked with ‘’. The above example can be presented in CTRP below.
Ai ise namakkatai i?
From the discussion it is found that grammatical, intonational, and semantic completion points can concur in a sentence or at least two of them are found to occur at
the same time. It is true that language influences interaction because at TRPs or CTRPs there is a possible transition from one speaker to another. Below is the chart of how
TCU, TRP, and completion points are linked.
Chart 12 : TCU, TRP, and Completion Points in Toba Batak Conversation
e rac
tion In
t Turn-taking
S e
n te
n c
e
P h
ra s
e
W o
rd
Linguistic
TRP
Clause
Gr amm
ati ca
l C ompletion
P oin
ts
Into n
atio nal
Com pletion
Poi nts
S ema
ntic Co mpl
eti on Poin
ts
S tru
c tu
re St
ru ct
u re
TCU
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4.3.1.5 Turn Allocation, Repair, Overlapping Talk, Silence