The language of Spoken Discourse:

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The language of Spoken Discourse

• Utterances
• we tend to speak in short stretches.
• Theses stretches may be, but frequently are not,
  accurate or complete sentences.
• The word utterance is used to describe these
  stretches of spoken language.
• Many utterances are comprised of incomplete,
  fragmented segments.
• In conversation when segments are linked together
  co-ordinating devices tend to be used.

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fronting

• Conventional word SVO order is generally used.
  But especially when speakers want to stress a
  contrast, they frequently resort to fronting,
  i.e., putting the object in front of the verb
• This one I can use that one Ive got no use
  for.
• A very frequent form of fronting in spoken
  English (but rare in written English) is topic
  fronting.
• This consists of placing a noun phrase or a noun
  clause in front of the grammatical subject, both
  of which actually refer to the same thing
• That part there s the handle

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Ellipsis

• Because we speak in real time, we often save
  time by using ellipsis the omission of
  grammatical (function) words, but also of lexical
  words.

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Ellipsis and Deixis

• Lexical ellipsis often is associated with Deixis.
  When words or pronouns refer to something beyond
  the language of the text, i.e., they indicate
  things in the context they are described as
  deictic.
• Deixis, can take the form of
• person deixis, place deixis, time deixis.
• Because deixis allows speakers to quickly refer
  to things that are clear from the context, it
  often allows them to avoid naming things
  explicitly, e.g.,
• him instead of a name
• then instead of a time
• there instead of the name of a place
• these instead of the name of things.

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orientation

• Deixis is important in conversation because it is
  frequently used to orient the conversation
  (guide someone physically in a specified
  direction).
• e.g. That bit there

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Task 1

• Task 1 look at the conversation on P60
• a. Identify examples of ungrammatical utterances
• b. Identify examples of co-ordination
• c. Identify examples of topic fronting
• d. Identify examples of grammatical ellipsis
• e. Identify examples of lexical ellipsis
• f. Identify examples of deixis used to orient the
  conversation
• g. Identify examples of vague language
• h. Identify examples of linguistic inventiveness.

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Lexis and Lexicalisation

• The lexis of conversation in English tends to
  feature simple Anglos-Saxon words rather than
  words of Latin origin. In LSW the example is
  start rather than commence.
• This tendency is also related to formality and
  issues of register.
• Carter and Cornbleet stress how we tend to use
  core vocabulary , central words in a language,
  rather than choosing lexis from the extreme ends
  of the language spectrum.
• However, it is a generalisation. Lexis depends
  on the conversation event, the participants and
  the context.

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Lexical density of speech

• As a rule, spoken English has a lower lexical
  density that written English.
• This means that grammar or function words tend
  to be much more frequent, particularly in the
  form of verb phrases which occur more frequently
  than noun phrases.

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Delexical verbs

• Many verb phrases are based on and built around
  the most common verbs in the language
• go, have, put, do, etc.
• They often combine with nouns to make common
  phrases have a look, go for a walk, do the
  washing up, etc. Such verbs are known as
  delexical verbs and they are more common in
  informal conversation and spoken discourse than
  their lexical equivalents from which they are
  formed in this case, look, walk, wash up,
  etc.,

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Task 2

• Look back to the conversation on p.60.
• compare the use of delexical verbs with the
  number, if any, of lexical verbs, i.e. verbs with
  distinct meanings.

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Vague language

• Most face-to-face conversations feature shared
  knowledge of things in the context.
• This is why we tend to use vague, general words
  rather than specific terminology, which would
  require greater effort and might also introduce
  an inappropriate register, if the conversation is
  an informal one. Words like something are
  often used in vague expressions like or
  something.

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Lexical Creativity

• The example of lexical creativity is the word
  unsolid. This word does not exist in the
  dictionary and it is not officially recognised as
  a word. Yet it works in this context.
• This is partly because the root word solid is
  preceded by the negative prefix un, which
  prefixes many adjectives in English to create
  negative meanings. The other participants are
  familiar with this principal of word formation
  ,so the meaning is clear

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Interaction signals back-channels

• Back-channels are signs that were interested,
  that were paying attention and in agreement with
  what is being said.
• They do not normally interrupt a turn or signal
  a change of turn. In English the words (or voiced
  fillers) most frequently used as back channels
  are yeah, right, OK, mm
• oh and ah also convey emotional involvement
  in what is being said.
• In the absence of these signs speakers are
  likely to infer boredom, lack of sympathy, or
  perhaps even antagonism on the part of the
  listener.

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Discourse markers

• To indicate that a turn has ended or is about to
  begin speakers use another set of signals these
  are Discourse Markers words and phrases which
  are used to signal the relationships and
  connections between utterances.
• They are used to help the listener (or reader)
  follow what is being said.

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Tag Questions

• Tag Questions are almost exclusive to spoken
  discourse and fulfil a function very similar to
  that of discourse markers
• They may indicate regular questions to which an
  answer would be expected, but they also have
  functions like seeking confirmation, encouraging
  someone to speak or contribute to a conversation,
  in other words, drawing someone out.
• They are also used to express a range of
  emotions and attitudes, horror, surprise or
  disbelief, conviction, etc.
• Written tag questions can be difficult to
  interpret, because their function in discourse is
  connected to intonation.

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Task 3

• Consider how the discourse markers well
  and oh operate in the following text
• A well does Caroline like Jane(.) I dont know
  to be honest(2) well no
• (.) she said(.) shes cold she said(.) she
  doesnt dislike (.) but theyve never really
  clicked
• K Cold?
• A er yeah
• K Janes cold?
• A and they never really clicked (.) but she only
  has to work for her three days a week
• K I though it was erm (.) Irene she didnt like
• A no its Jane she didnt like
• K oh (.) and she was saying that (.) you know
  you were saying why she didnt get any men(.) in
  the hairdressers (.) she gets loads of offers she
  said (.) but they were all from married men(.)
  who want affairs

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Well

• Well
• 1 it signals the start of the conversation so it
  operates as an opener, telling the listener that
  this is the beginning.
• 2 it seems to be used to contradict a previous
  utterance.
• So Well can also be used to signal
• reluctance to give a clear negative after a
  closed question.
• an opening,
• modification of a challenging opinion.

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Oh

• In this conversation oh signals
• a surprising or just remembered idea.
• an attitude of enthusiasm to introduce the new
  topic

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And

• Consider the use of and and but and how they
  signpost the structure of the exchange
• And
• 1 it signals a new idea, joining separate ideas
  in a list (as in this conversation)
• (It can join idea or events in a temporal
  sequence with the meaning of and then. It can
  be used causally He saw his wife and ran away)
  
• It also signals that the speaker wants to
  continue talking and has is not ready to give up
  the floor.
• .

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But

• In this conversations it seems to modify or
  contradict what has gone on before. In the
  utterance she doesnt dislike (.) but theyve
  never really clicked.
• Though the speaker wants to maintain that
  Caroline doesnt like Jane, but indicates that
  she wants to modify that previous utterance in
  some way.

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• 2 the second example of but seems again not to
  be simply adversative, rather it seeks to
  minimise or attenuate the seriousness or
  unpleasantness of the situation being described.
• 3 the final sentence is more like a negative
  concession than a strain adversative.

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Functions of Speech

• Remember when reading transcripts of
  conversation just as ungrammatical utterances can
  make perfect sense in the context of a
  conversation, often in spoken discourse the
  function of an utterance differs from its
  grammatical form.

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• What reads like a declarative statement on the
  page may actually be a question or an expression
  of surprise, or even a request for confirmation.
  Therefore the grammar may well indicate an
  indirect Speech Act.

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• Caller I wondered if you had any free tourist
  literature on Rhodes
• Clerk Yes
• Er (2) um(2) could (.) you send me some please
• Clerk yes (1) your addess