Conversation Terminology Flashcards
what is an utterance?
we measure the language of conversations in utterances rather than in sentences (because we often speak in single words or incomplete sentences)
what is an adjacency pair?
when we speak in links one after the other
what is a false start?
when a speaker changes their wording within the first 3 or 4 words in an utterance
what is a topic shift?
a change in topic in conversation
what is a topic manager?
the speaker who controls the topics in a conversation; the role of topic manager can change during a conversation
what are verbal fillers?
when we use words such as ‘like’, ‘sort of’ and ‘kind of’ within our utterances
what are non-verbal fillers?
sounds like erm, aha, mhm that we use to communicate meaning when we talk
what is the difference between a timed pause and a micropause
a timed pause if for 1 second or more, and a micropause is a pause of less than a second
what are prosodics?
sound of voice changes (louder, quieter, faster, slower, higher, lower)
what is turn taking?
we speak in turns during conversations. when participants wait for their turn, and don’t interrupt or overlap another speaker, this is called a latch-on
what is a repair?
when a speaker fixes an utterance that needs changing
what is simultaneous speech?
when speakers talk over each other. often happens naturally during conversation but also can be used to take over the topic or control the talk
we use / to show where the talk was simultaneous
can be an overlap or an interruption
what is broken construction
like a false start but it happens further on in an utterance, usually somewhere in the middle
what are paralinguistics?
this is how we refer to body language, facial expressions, hand and head movements that people make when they speak
we refer to paralinguistics by putting them in {}
what is hedge?
when speakers choose uncertain or hesitant language such as ‘perhaps’ ‘maybe’ or ‘a little’
