One semi-helpful definition would be:
What is the difference between transactional and interactional language? Brown and
Yule (1983: 1) suggest that, whereas transactional language expresses “content”, the
task in hand, interactional language has the function of “expressing social relations
and personal attitudes”. I take it that this very broad definition of interactional talk,
includes ritualised politeness, and other forms of attention to the face needs of others,
as well as more directly relational language such as small talk or gossip.
- taken from http://www.ling.ed.ac.uk/~pgc/archive/2002/proc02/hewlett02.pdf
You can also find definitions at http://www.teachit.co.uk/attachments/spoklng2.pdf-- as part of a handy-dandy definitions checklist!
Hope this helps!
