"A similar underspecification may be found in the last practice cited and quoted precisely above. It says that, if no one has been selected as next speaker, and no one (other than then-current speaker) has self-selected, then the one who had been the speaker up to the possible completion can self-select to continue, “unless another self-selects.” And what then? What if a just-now speaker does self-select to continue in the absence of anyone else making a move to talk – only to find, as he or she does so, that another has self-selected after all? What happens if that circumstance arises? Who gets the turn then, if that “unless” comes to pass?"
Oh god! What then, indeed? Whatever shall we do if the dread circumstance comes to pass that two people talk at the same time?
How much Schegloff thinks I should care about this problem:
How much I actually care about this problem:
Academics: being overdramatic since roughly forever.
Schegloff, E. A. (2000). Overlapping talk and the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language in Society, 29(1), 1-63.
