Abstract
This article presents findings from a study of overlaps in informal conversations between friends. The interaction of prosody and syntax in overlaps is analysed.
The findings suggest that although interactants orient themselves to syntactically complete sentences, the relationship between syntax and prosody is rather negligible. Prosody used in overlaps is influenced mostly by the sequential organization of conversation.
In many cases, overlaps are not perceived as problematic and as such do not need resolving. Specific prosodic features are applied especially when (i) interactants aim to take over a turn or (ii) when they believe they have the right to speak.