Conversational Phonetics: the case of ‘and’ and ‘but’

Melissa Wright

University of York

1. ‘Strong’ and ‘Weak’ forms of ‘And’

Word

/ ‘Strong’ form / ‘Weak’ form(s)
 /  / 

Table 1: The ‘Strong’ and ‘Weak’ forms of ‘And’ (taken from Jones 1960: 130)

These shapes have been accounted for in very different ways e.g. Kaisse (1985), Zwicky (1977), Selkirk (1995)
None based on naturally occurring conversation

2. Analyses of Conversation

Some linguists, e.g. Local, Kelly & Wells (1986), Local & Kelly (1986), Simpson (1992, 2001), Local (1992, 1996), Kohler (1999), Ogden (1999, 2001) , Wells & MacFarlane (1998) have analysed conversation

Some phonetic variability can be accounted for by grammar, interaction and phonology

3. Outline of Study

Aims

-To examine the phonetics of ‘and’ in conversation

-To identify the constraints imposed by the sequential organisation and/or the interactional function

Data

- 6 hours of telephone conversations

- 30 native British English speakers: 17 male and 13 female, 18-60 years old

Methodology – interactional linguistics

4. ‘Return-to-topic’ ‘And-uhm’ Tokens

4.1 Schema

A: topic

B: intervening talk

C: ‘and-uhm’ + return-to-topic mentioned in A

33 tokens found

1

4.2 Transcription Conventions

(.)Micropause

(0.2)Measured silent pause

.h, .hhInbreath (more ‘h’ represents a longer inbreath)

h, hhOutbreath (more ‘h’ represent a longer outbreath)

[Simultaneous start or overlapping speech

=Latching between two turns or two words within a turn

( )Transcriber doubt

Fragment 1: /Holt.X(C).1.1.1.p.1./

A:1:Les:.hh an’ Carol said her: flat (.)

B:2:she lives in a ground floor flat(0.4)

3:with a little ga:rd’n at the back



C:4:and uh .hh i (.) it’s absolutely

5:spotless she said

Fragment 2: /Holt.10.88.1.8.p.6/

A:1::Joy:an’ the kids

B:2:.hhh you know she's got a girl I

3:spoze about(.) fourteen an' a boy

4:about .hh twelve maybe



C:5:.hhh a:n:d uh even the kids she

6:said're so happy with Ron you know=

Fragment 3: /Holt.May.88.2.4.p.15/

A:1:Mar:if he gets the right grades this is

2:eez got'n offer in Newcastle (0.6) h-

3:Uh:: and an offer in Sheffie:ld

4:Dee: ya:[:h

B:5:Mar: [all my kids seem t'wanna go

6:no:rth u-: (.)go ‘way as far as

7:possible I don'know what ih-ih-

8:something I said p'raps .hh[hhh

9:Dee: [ye:h



C:10:Mar:a:nd uh: or: u- (.) eh Portsmouth

11:Poli.hh

5. Methods of Phonetic Analysis

Instrumental + impressionistic observations

Parametric listening (Kelly & Local (1989))

1) Quality of Vowel

2) Syllabicity

1

3) Place of articulation in the word junction

4) Manner of articulation in the word junction

5) Degree and Location of Glottal Constriction

6. The Phonetics of Return-to-topic ‘And-uhm’ Tokens

6.1 Variable

6.1.1 Degree of glottal constriction

-Initial glottal stop(27/33): /Holt. Mat.88.2.4.p.8/



Mar:a:n:d uh: it wz surprising

-Creakiness(2/33): /Holt. S/O (II). 2.2.p.4./



Ron:yes they do: a:n:d uhm:

-No creakiness(4/33): /Holt.88.U.2.2/



Kev:an:d um: (0.4) we had

6.1.2 Manner of articulation in word junction

– always with closure and complete release

-Oral release(14/33): /Holt.X(C).1.1.1.p.4a/ 



Les:there .hh and em ! .hh

-Affricated oral release(17/33): /Doggy 35/



Joa:(.) and uhm so I spent

-Lengthened nasal release(2/33): /Holt.X(C).1.1.3.p.4/



Phi:very busy en: uh .hh

6.1.3 Quality of vowel

-Open(26/33): /Holt.10.88.1.8.p.6/



Joy:twelve maybe .hhh a:n:d uh even

-Mid(7/33): /Holt.X(C).1.1.1.p.1./



Les:the back and uh .hh i (.)it’s

6.2 Not-variable

6.2.1 Syllabicity

-no syllabic nasals i.e. *[

6.2.2 Place of articulation in word junction

-always at the alveolar ridge: /Holt.May.88.2.4.p.5/



Mar:back problem a:n::d uh:::.hhhh

7. Summary of the Phonetics of ‘And-uhm’

Return-to-topic ‘and-uhm’s typically have

-An open vowel

-An alveolar plosive at the word junction

They never occur with

-A syllabic nasal

-Open or close approximation

8. Return-to-topic ‘But-uhm’ Tokens

18 tokens found

Fragment 4: /Holt.2.1.p.1/

1:Les:yes=I js s-u thought I'd che:ck=

2:Fos:=M[m:

3:Les: [i:n case there wz a:

4:misprin:[! (Again)

5:Fos: [yes no no

A:6:we're havin:g ehm: (0.4)

B:7:w'l I'm away actually



C:8:but uh: it's just a group Sundee

9:Les:y[es

Fragment 5: /Holt. 88.U 2.2.p.3./

A:1:she's been to:,h (0.7) a pla:y

2:Les:hYes Oh lovely

3:(0.4)

B:4:Kev:uh:m (0.5) an:d eh: I think they were

5:g'nna be back rather lateish=

6:Les:=So they're staying[the night,h]

7:Kev: [It’s- more ]eh

8:considered more sensible she stayed

9:in Pru

10:Les:That's ri:ght=

11:Kev: =with Tracey rather than uh

4

12:(.)

13:Les:hYes .hhh

14:Kev: coming home

15:Les: hYes.h

16:(0.5)

[

C:17:Kev:but uh

18:(0.7)

19:(L):[!

A:20:Kev: [uh:m they were doi- eh seein:g (0.5)

B:21:I don't know which came first

C:22:but um (0.7) uh::(.) both: (.) Hamlet

23:(0.2)an:d Rosenkranz'n Guildenstern

24:in th'same day

25:Les:oh grea:t .h

9. The Phonetics of Return-to-topic ‘But-uhm’ tokens

9.1 Variable

9.1.1

Glottal constriction

-Creakiness (3/18): /Holt.2.15p.1/



Joy:but um .p.hh I'm not clever at uhm:

-No creakiness (15/18): /Holt.Oct 88.1.8.p.2/



Les:.hh [but uhm: I: think they seem to think

9.2 Not-Variable

9.2.1 Manner of articulation in word junction

-Always affricated oral release: /Holt.2.1.p.1/



Fos:away actually but uh: it's just a group

9.2.2 Place of articulation in word junction

-Always at the alveolar ridge: /Holt.1.1.6.p.5/

[

Les:but uhm (0.2) she said oh I did think’ve

10. The Phonetics of Junction of word with ‘final /t/ + uhm’

e.g. ‘about + uhm’; ‘got + uhm’; not + uhm’ etc.

36 tokens found

1) Place of articulation in word junction

2) Manner of articulation in word junction

32/33 had an alveolar plosive

11. Comparison of words before a stressed vowel

Resyllabification may explain the full forms before ‘uhm’

-e.g. -VC # V-  -V.C # V-

Compared the junctural properties of ‘and’, ‘but’ words with ‘final /t/’ before a stressed vowel

Many differences were found


Figure 1: The Frequency Distribution of the Variable Phonetics of Junction in ‘and + V’ and ‘and + Uhm’ Tokens


Figure 2: The Frequency Distribution of the Variable Phonetics of Junction in ‘but/-t + V’ and ‘but/-t + Uhm’ Tokens

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12. Conclusion

The particle ‘uhm’ can constrain the phonetics of the preceding item. This is reminiscent of Jefferson’s (1974) and Fox-Tree & Clark’s (1997) findings on ‘thee-uhm’

The analysis of conversation is fruitful as it can partially explain the distribution of ‘strong’ forms

References

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Jefferson, G. (1974). Error correction as an interactional resource. Language in Society 2:181-199.

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Ogden R. A. (2001). Turn transition, creak and glottal stop in Finnish talk-in-interaction.Journal of the Phonetic Association 31/3. 139-152.

Selkirk, E. O. (1995). The prosodic structure of function words. University ofMassachusetts Occasional Papers 19: 439-469.

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Simpson, A. (2001). Does articulatory reduction miss more patterns than it accounts for?Journal of the Phonetic Association 31/3. 29-39.

Wells, B. & MacFarlane, S. (1998). Prosody as an interactional resource: turn projectionand overlap. Language and Speech 41. 3-4 (special issue on Prosody and

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