Research on conversational repair in Conversation Analysis over the past several decades has documented a wide array of turn formats that can be used for other-initiations of repair (OIR) across languages. This study contributes to this expanding body of research on OIR turn formats by describing previously undocumented types of OIR formats observed in Japanese talk-in-interaction. I discuss two related, yet distinct types of OIR formats that both include the negative construction X ja nakute, which is roughly translated as “Meaning that it’s not X”. The following (simplified) excerpts illustrate the two types of OIR formats under investigation:

(1)  ((College students enrolled in a teacher-training program are talking about a mutual

     friend.))

1     B:   shuushoku na n ja nai kana:.  

           “I think she’s going to pursue shuushoku (lit. “employment”).”

2 --> A:   a:: kyooshoku ja nakute.

           “Oh:: meaning that it’s not a teaching career (that she’s going

           to pursue).”

3     B:   mitaina koto o itteta.

           “is what she was saying.”

Prior to this segment, A mentioned that the mutual friend’s choice of Social Studies Education as her major was rather unexpected. Then, B states that she thinks the friend is going to pursue shuushoku (lit. “employment”) (line 1). In response, A produces an utterance in the X ja nakute format (line 2), where she brings up kyooshoku (“teaching career”) as an alternative that stands in contrast to shuushoku (“employment”) mentioned by B. By doing so, A seeks to specify the locally relevant meaning of the word shuushoku, i.e., that, by shuushoku, B meant to refer to a non-teaching career, which mostly likely is a business career.

The utterance in the X ja nakute format in (2) works rather differently:

(2)  ((K has just told H that she often uses a large mural of a world atlas on the wall of the Takashimaya Department Store building as a landmark for meeting people.))

1     H:  takashimaya ni sekai chizu anno?

           “Is there a world atlas at Takashimaya?”

2     K:  ano kadokko ni.

           “At the corner.”

3 --> H:  hankyuu ja nakute?

           “Meaning that it’s not the Hankyu Department Store (that you’re

           talking about)?”

4     K:  a takashimaya ja nai hankyuu ya.

           “Oh, not Takashimaya, it’s Hankyuu.”

In response to K’s claim that there is a mural of a world atlas at the corner of the Takashimaya Department Store (line 2), H produces an utterance in the X ja nakute format (line 3), where he brings up another department store (Hankyuu) as an alternative that stands in contrast to the one mentioned by K. By doing so, H proffers a possible alternative for the whereabouts of the atlas, which serves as an invitation for self-correction (see K’s response in line 4).

By closely examining how each of these types of turn formats is used to negotiate understandings of prior turns in their respective contexts, I will identify characteristic features found in the situated workings of these turn formats. I will also explore what makes them similar yet distinct from one another in terms of how they deal with problems with prior turns.