Abstract
The paper offers a preliminary overview of studies on lesser-described languages carried out in recent decades within the theoretical and methodological framework of Conversation Analyis, an ethnomethodologically inspired approach to the investigation of language use and social interaction. Reported results of large-scale comparative investigations on fundamental conversational mechanisms like turn-taking, sequential organization and repair thereby show the universal character of such practices, while highlighting peculiarities of languages like ╪Ākhoe Hai||om, Cha’palaa, Murrinh-Phata Yélî-Dnye and Tzeltal, in comparison with widespread Western European languages. It is thus discussed how Conversation Analysis – with its data-driven, emic, situated, and multimodal perspective on spoken interaction – can fruitfully complement language documentation work on lesser-described languages and speech communities.