How phonetic features project more talk

• Published in: Journal of the International Phonetic Association Vol. 42; no. 3; pp. 255 - 280
• Main Authors: Local, John, Walker, Gareth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01-12-2012; Cambridge University Press for the International Phonetic Association
• Subjects: Accentuation; Articulation; Articulatory phonetics; British English; Consonants; Conversation; Descriptive studies and applied theories; Fricative consonants; Linguistics; Phonetic analysis; Phonetic features; Phonetics; Pitch; Prosody; Speech duration; Stops; Syntactics; Syntax; Telephones; Transcription; Turn taking; Voicing; Vowels; Words; Turn-taking organization; English; Phonetic articulation; Prosody; British English; Vowel; Interaction; Phonetics; Discourse production; Anticipation
• ISSN: 0025-1003; 1475-3502
• DOI: 10.1017/S0025100312000187

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.