Taking a detour before answering the question: Turn-initial okay in second position in English interaction

Okay is used in different sequential environments for a variety of interactional functions across languages, but the range of context-specific uses of the particle is not yet fully explored. This conversation analytic study focuses on turn-initial okay in English, specifically in responses to questions where okay does not itself constitute the answer. We argue that okay in responsive position combines the semantics of acceptance and transition for a sequentially particularized use: Okay looks backward to accept the question and mark the speaker's readiness to respond while also looking forward to project talk that is not the conditionally relevant answer. This talk temporarily postpones, but does not move away from, the conditionally relevant answer, and the resulting multi-unit turn architecture that we observe is: Question – Okay + UNIT 1 (not the answer) + UNIT 2 (the answer). Okay projects a ‘detour’ from the asked-for answer in favor of managing aspects of the question or addressing the need for additional work in answering. Data are in English and include varieties spoken in Canada, Singapore, and the United States. •Turn-initial okay is used in responses to questions, not itself being an answer.•Speakers draw on the particle's core semantics of ‘acceptance’ and ‘transitioning’.•Okay marks the speaker's readiness to respond (acceptance, backward-looking).•Okay projects a brief postponement of the answer (transitioning, forward-looking).•Study expands basis for cross-linguistic study of okay, of particles in interaction.