A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions

Yukun Li; Heyu Wang

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14

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A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions

Yukun Li^*

, Heyu Wang

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 13, Issue 6)

Received: 15 October 2025 Accepted: 2 November 2025 Published: 19 December 2025

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Abstract

Based on the notion of meta-representation proposed by Sperber & Wilson, this study analyzes echo utterances in Chinese complaint hotline interactions, categorizing them into quotative and reconstructive echoes. Quotative echoes, relying on metalinguistic resemblance, involve the literal reproduction of prior speech and are used predominantly by customers to voice moderate, within-framework resistance. In contrast, reconstructive echoes, based on interpretive resemblance, fundamentally reset the cognitive framework of the talk and serve as a deep intervention strategy. The choice and function of these echo strategies are fundamentally shaped by the power dynamics inherent in the institutional setting. Customers, typically in low-power positions, employ quotative echoes to tentatively resist proposed solutions and highlight procedural-personal disconnects, while strategically using reconstructive echoes to overturn the epistemic framework of the talk into a deontic one, thereby moralizing their complaint. Conversely, agents, positioned within the institutional authority, overwhelmingly use reconstructive echoes to systematically convert customers' personalized, emotional narratives into neutral, technical, and solution-oriented terms. This discursive process institutionalizes the complainable and functions to naturalize existing power relations. Ultimately, this meta-representation perspective elucidates how the very nature of the complainable is not pre-formed but negotiated through a continuous struggle between personal experience and institutional procedure. The study concludes that effective complaint resolution hinges on this dynamic interplay, achieving a balance between procedural justice and the acknowledgment of humane needs.

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 13, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14
Page(s)	236-245
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Complaint Hotline Interactions, Echo Utterances, Meta-representation, Quotative Echoes, Reconstructive Echoes, Institutional Discourse

References

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[17]	Schegloff, E. A. Repair After Next Turn: The Last Structurally Provided Defense of. Intersubjectivity in Conversation. American Journal of Sociology. 1992, 97(5): 1295–1345. https://doi.org/10.1086/229903
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APA Style

Li, Y., Wang, H. (2025). A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 13(6), 236-245. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14

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ACS Style

Li, Y.; Wang, H. A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2025, 13(6), 236-245. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14

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AMA Style

Li Y, Wang H. A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions. Int J Lang Linguist. 2025;13(6):236-245. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14,
  author = {Yukun Li and Heyu Wang},
  title = {A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {13},
  number = {6},
  pages = {236-245},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20251306.14},
  abstract = {Based on the notion of meta-representation proposed by Sperber & Wilson, this study analyzes echo utterances in Chinese complaint hotline interactions, categorizing them into quotative and reconstructive echoes. Quotative echoes, relying on metalinguistic resemblance, involve the literal reproduction of prior speech and are used predominantly by customers to voice moderate, within-framework resistance. In contrast, reconstructive echoes, based on interpretive resemblance, fundamentally reset the cognitive framework of the talk and serve as a deep intervention strategy. The choice and function of these echo strategies are fundamentally shaped by the power dynamics inherent in the institutional setting. Customers, typically in low-power positions, employ quotative echoes to tentatively resist proposed solutions and highlight procedural-personal disconnects, while strategically using reconstructive echoes to overturn the epistemic framework of the talk into a deontic one, thereby moralizing their complaint. Conversely, agents, positioned within the institutional authority, overwhelmingly use reconstructive echoes to systematically convert customers' personalized, emotional narratives into neutral, technical, and solution-oriented terms. This discursive process institutionalizes the complainable and functions to naturalize existing power relations. Ultimately, this meta-representation perspective elucidates how the very nature of the complainable is not pre-formed but negotiated through a continuous struggle between personal experience and institutional procedure. The study concludes that effective complaint resolution hinges on this dynamic interplay, achieving a balance between procedural justice and the acknowledgment of humane needs.},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions
AU  - Yukun Li
AU  - Heyu Wang
Y1  - 2025/12/19
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 236
EP  - 245
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14
AB  - Based on the notion of meta-representation proposed by Sperber & Wilson, this study analyzes echo utterances in Chinese complaint hotline interactions, categorizing them into quotative and reconstructive echoes. Quotative echoes, relying on metalinguistic resemblance, involve the literal reproduction of prior speech and are used predominantly by customers to voice moderate, within-framework resistance. In contrast, reconstructive echoes, based on interpretive resemblance, fundamentally reset the cognitive framework of the talk and serve as a deep intervention strategy. The choice and function of these echo strategies are fundamentally shaped by the power dynamics inherent in the institutional setting. Customers, typically in low-power positions, employ quotative echoes to tentatively resist proposed solutions and highlight procedural-personal disconnects, while strategically using reconstructive echoes to overturn the epistemic framework of the talk into a deontic one, thereby moralizing their complaint. Conversely, agents, positioned within the institutional authority, overwhelmingly use reconstructive echoes to systematically convert customers' personalized, emotional narratives into neutral, technical, and solution-oriented terms. This discursive process institutionalizes the complainable and functions to naturalize existing power relations. Ultimately, this meta-representation perspective elucidates how the very nature of the complainable is not pre-formed but negotiated through a continuous struggle between personal experience and institutional procedure. The study concludes that effective complaint resolution hinges on this dynamic interplay, achieving a balance between procedural justice and the acknowledgment of humane needs.
VL  - 13
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Yukun Li

School of International Studies, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7601-8109
Heyu Wang

School of International Studies, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0009-0001-9022-1442

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APA Style

Li, Y., Wang, H. (2025). A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 13(6), 236-245. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14

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ACS Style

Li, Y.; Wang, H. A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2025, 13(6), 236-245. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14

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AMA Style

Li Y, Wang H. A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions. Int J Lang Linguist. 2025;13(6):236-245. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14,
  author = {Yukun Li and Heyu Wang},
  title = {A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {13},
  number = {6},
  pages = {236-245},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20251306.14},
  abstract = {Based on the notion of meta-representation proposed by Sperber & Wilson, this study analyzes echo utterances in Chinese complaint hotline interactions, categorizing them into quotative and reconstructive echoes. Quotative echoes, relying on metalinguistic resemblance, involve the literal reproduction of prior speech and are used predominantly by customers to voice moderate, within-framework resistance. In contrast, reconstructive echoes, based on interpretive resemblance, fundamentally reset the cognitive framework of the talk and serve as a deep intervention strategy. The choice and function of these echo strategies are fundamentally shaped by the power dynamics inherent in the institutional setting. Customers, typically in low-power positions, employ quotative echoes to tentatively resist proposed solutions and highlight procedural-personal disconnects, while strategically using reconstructive echoes to overturn the epistemic framework of the talk into a deontic one, thereby moralizing their complaint. Conversely, agents, positioned within the institutional authority, overwhelmingly use reconstructive echoes to systematically convert customers' personalized, emotional narratives into neutral, technical, and solution-oriented terms. This discursive process institutionalizes the complainable and functions to naturalize existing power relations. Ultimately, this meta-representation perspective elucidates how the very nature of the complainable is not pre-formed but negotiated through a continuous struggle between personal experience and institutional procedure. The study concludes that effective complaint resolution hinges on this dynamic interplay, achieving a balance between procedural justice and the acknowledgment of humane needs.},
 year = {2025}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Meta-Representational Analysis of Echo Utterances in Chinese Complaint Hotline Interactions
AU  - Yukun Li
AU  - Heyu Wang
Y1  - 2025/12/19
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 236
EP  - 245
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251306.14
AB  - Based on the notion of meta-representation proposed by Sperber & Wilson, this study analyzes echo utterances in Chinese complaint hotline interactions, categorizing them into quotative and reconstructive echoes. Quotative echoes, relying on metalinguistic resemblance, involve the literal reproduction of prior speech and are used predominantly by customers to voice moderate, within-framework resistance. In contrast, reconstructive echoes, based on interpretive resemblance, fundamentally reset the cognitive framework of the talk and serve as a deep intervention strategy. The choice and function of these echo strategies are fundamentally shaped by the power dynamics inherent in the institutional setting. Customers, typically in low-power positions, employ quotative echoes to tentatively resist proposed solutions and highlight procedural-personal disconnects, while strategically using reconstructive echoes to overturn the epistemic framework of the talk into a deontic one, thereby moralizing their complaint. Conversely, agents, positioned within the institutional authority, overwhelmingly use reconstructive echoes to systematically convert customers' personalized, emotional narratives into neutral, technical, and solution-oriented terms. This discursive process institutionalizes the complainable and functions to naturalize existing power relations. Ultimately, this meta-representation perspective elucidates how the very nature of the complainable is not pre-formed but negotiated through a continuous struggle between personal experience and institutional procedure. The study concludes that effective complaint resolution hinges on this dynamic interplay, achieving a balance between procedural justice and the acknowledgment of humane needs.
VL  - 13
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download