Keskeytykseensanan

Keskeytykseensanan is a discourse feature described in discussions of spontaneous speech that refers to the interruption of an ongoing sentence by inserting a parenthetical remark, a reformulation, or a brief digression. After the inserted material, the original sentence resumes. It is a self-initiated intra-sentential disruption rather than an interruption by another speaker.

Origin and usage: The term is a Finnish neologism used in discourse studies. It combines keskeytys (interruption) with a word-formation element related to sana or lause, and labels a specific self-interruption inside a sentence. It appears mainly in informal talk, interviews, and transcripts that aim to capture natural speech.

Characteristics and function: The digression is typically short and may be signaled by a pause, a pitch reset, or discourse markers such as you know or that is. The purpose can be to gain thinking time, hedge a claim, repair earlier wording, or manage turn-taking. It differs from inter-speaker interruptions and from end-of-sentence repairs.

Transcription and analysis: In transcripts, Keskeytykseensanan is marked to show the boundary between the main clause and the inserted material. Researchers study its frequency, length, position within clauses, and its effect on perceived fluency and stance.

See also: self-repair, discourse marker, disfluency, interruption, turn-taking.