Repetition in Mandarin Interaction: A Case Study on TV Shopping Channels in Taiwan

Repetition is a pervasive type of spontaneous prepatterning in conversation. From an evolutionary perspective, repetition or imitation is a safe way to secure oneself from stepping into any danger caused by uncertainty. By repeating or imitating the behavior of other group members, one may survive in many situations. From a learning or pedagogical perspective, repetition or imitation is a fast way to acquire a skill or a language, including the lexicon and the structures. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate this significantly pervasive yet somewhat neglected phenomenon in Mandarin discourse. In this study, we seek to examine repetitions in social interactions on TV shopping channels in Taiwan. It is hoped that such a study may contribute to natural language processing and information processing by providing a detailed analysis of the patterns and functions of repetition in social interactions.