Couper-Kuhlen2001
| Couper-Kuhlen2001 | |
|---|---|
| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Couper-Kuhlen2001 |
| Author(s) | Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen |
| Title | Interactional prosody: High onsets in reason-for-the-call turns |
| Editor(s) | |
| Tag(s) | EMCA, IL, Prosody, Reason-for-a-call, intonation, conversational interaction, radio talk, onset level, contextualization, theory, multi-unit turn construction, spoken paratone) |
| Publisher | |
| Year | 2001 |
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| Journal | Language in Society |
| Volume | 30 |
| Number | |
| Pages | 29-53 |
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Abstract
The present study demonstrates how prosody – specifically, onset level – is deployed in situated interaction to cue frames of interpretation for talk. It shows not only that final pitch level in intonational contours is a rele- vant parameter, but also that, under certain conditions, initial pitch level may provide a situationally specific contextualization cue. In calls to ra- dio phone-in programs, for instance, there is a so-called anchor position where callers can be expected to announce the reason for their calls. Close empirical analysis of data from such a program reveals that it is here that the first turn-constructional unit is routinely formatted with high onset. The studio moderator displays an orientation to this kind of prosodic for- matting by withholding further talk until the caller has made a recogniz- ably complete statement of the reason for the call. On occasion, turn- constructional units in anchor position are heard to lack a high onset.When this happens, the moderator responds in a way that shows he is not treat- ing callers’ talk as the reason for the call, but rather as a preface to the statement of reason.
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