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How phonetic features project more talk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2012

John Local  and
Gareth Walker
John Local
Affiliation:
Department of Language and Linguistic ScienceUniversity of [email protected]
Gareth Walker
Affiliation:
School of English Literature, Language and LinguisticsUniversity of [email protected]
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Abstract

Investigations into the management of turn-taking have typically focussed on pitch and other prosodic phenomena, particularly pitch-accents. Here, non-pitch phonetic features and their role in turn-taking are described. Through sustained phonetic and interactional analysis of a naturally occurring, 12-minute long telephone call between two adult speakers of British English, sets of talk-projecting and turn-projecting features are identified. Talk-projecting features include the avoidance of durational lengthening, articulatory anticipation, continuation of voicing, the production of talk in maximally close proximity to a preceding point of possible turn-completion, and the reduction of consonants and vowels. Turn-projecting features include the converse of each of the talk-projecting features, and two other distinct features: release of plosives at the point of possible turn-completion, and the production of audible outbreaths. We show that features of articulatory and phonatory quality and duration are relevant factors in the design and treatment of talk as talk- or turn-projective.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Phonetic Association , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , December 2012 , pp. 255 - 280
Copyright
Copyright © International Phonetic Association 2012

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