Having the last laugh: on post-completion laughter particles

Pioneering work by Gail Jefferson has led the way to approaching laughter as a bounded and ordered interactional phenomenon. Laughter can be seen as more than an uncontrollable expression of amusement, and instead something which is used with precision, in order to accomplish specific interactional goals. Episodes of shared laughter are shown to be highly ordered events which are co-ordinated by recipients in relation to the rhythmic pulses of laughter. Rather than just recording when laughter occurs, Jefferson has shown the value of paying specific attention to the exact placement of laughter in particular words, as well as the prosodic features of laughter. Recent work has further exemplified the analytic mileage which is afforded through paying attention to the precise placement of laughter.