On lists and generalized list completers in Spanish

Lists are a recurrent interactional pattern across languages, including Spanish. Despite their occasional study, one of their key components, generalized list completers, has been mentioned only in passing. The supposed preference for three-partedness has not been explored quantitatively either. Here, I begin to fill these gaps by exploring list-construction in Spanish. From a theoretical standpoint, I propose the categorization of generalized list completers into exhaustive and non-exhaustive. Practically, I focus on the generalized list completer y ya está (“and that’s it”) and its role in making lists three-parted. The present investigation sets out to contribute to the scarce investigation into lists, in general, and lists in Spanish, in particular, by accounting for the meaning conveyed by Spanish lists as a situated practice in interaction.