SCRIPTED SPEECH

STYLISTICS VIII
BS ENGLISH
Features of Scripted/Unscripted Discourse
Interactional Talk
Spoken conversation that targets the social aspect rather than the
content of the conversation.
Transactional Talk
Spoken conversation that targets the content of what is said.
Elision
The exclusion of a sound, syllable, or word to make something easier to
say. The slurring or gliding of words (gonna, wanna).
Ellipsis
The omission of a certain element of a text (if easily recognisable to the
reader/listener).
Adjacency Pairs
Two points in conversation which carry a logical connection (e.g. a greeting or a
question and answer)
Non-Fluency Features
These include a silent pause, a filled pause, a repetition and a false start.
Filled pause
(e.g. "erm, erm") the speaker might be introducing a new topic, searching for a
word, thinking about what to say, doesn't want to give up their turn.
Repetition
Saying something again for emphasis or unintentionally to gain thinking time.
"That's lovely, really lovely."
Prosodic Features
The features of speech including rhythm, stress and intonation, elements that
can't be seen through vocabulary and grammar. These can show the mood of the
speaker.
Hedge/vague language
Avoiding coming to the point or saying things directly. Softening or weakening
the force by using, for example, "perhaps," "maybe," "sort of," "possibly," "I
think".
Fillers
Words and expressions that have little meaning but are inserted into
everyday speech. (e.g. "you know," "like".) They give the speaker
time to think, they can act as hedges and they can act as a way to
involve the listener. These are a type of discourse marker.
Backchannel
Agreement to show the listener is paying attention. (e.g. "yeah,"
"well, it's...," "uh-huh".)
Discourse marker
A word, sound, or phrase, which does not have a strong independent
meaning and does not change the message of the statement
associated with it (e.g. "you know, well, i mean, anyway, right".)
They can be used to link statements, to compare/contrast statements,
to open/close/continue a topic or they can be regarded as lazy or
careless speech.
Tag Question
Consists of two parts: a statement and a shortened yes/no
question that refers to it and asks if the first statement is true.
"It's sunny today, isn't it?"
Turn-taking
Following a simple set of rules through signals that the
speaker wishes to yield or take the turn.
Idiolect
A person's unique and often distinctive use of language and speech
(includes vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation).
Sociolect
A variety of language associated with a social or socioeconomic
class.
Paralinguistic features
Body language, gestures, facial expressions, tone, speed, pitch of
voice: elements which add to the meaning of the total discourse.
Holding the floor
The person speaking is said to be doing this.
Clashing
When two people start to speak at the same time. One must stop
while the other continues. Status and context are important here.
Repairing
The monitoring and correcting of what a speaker says, often using
phrases to acknowledge a mistake, for example, "I mean, I should
have said, no, that's wrong, I wanted to say..."
Topic shift
Changing the subject of conversation. Conversation is dynamic
and spontaneous and topics change frequently.
Conversation endings
A closing phrase at the end of a conversation: "see you later, bye,
nice to see you, come around sometime, see you next week..."
Phatic communion/Phatic talk
Ice-breakers or polite chitchat at the beginning of a conversation.
"Nice weather we're having, isn't it?" or "How are you?"
Voiced pauses/Fillers/Non-fluency features
The "ums" and "ers" and "you knows" used when we can't express
exactly what we want to say.
Overlaps and interruptions
When two people are speaking at once or when one person jumps
into the conversation before the other person has finished what
they're saying. Interruptions can border on rudeness depending on the
context.
Modality
A strategy which allows us to introduce different options and
compromises for negotiation, for example, "perhaps, probably,
normally, slightly, maybe" or using modal verbs
(may/might/should/could).
False starts
A non-fluency feature when a speaker realises s/he has made a mistake
and attempts to repair the error (often by use of meta language -
language which talks about language, for example, "I meant to say" or "I
mean to say".
Deixis
Words which locate the conversation in a particular space or context
(this, that, these, those, over here, one of these...).
Non-standard features
Often used when a speaker struggles to phrase utterances clearly, for
example, incorrect grammar "we was really tired" (lack of agreement
between the subject and the verb).
Fixed expressions
Routine phrases such as "as a matter of fact, in my opinion, as far as I
can see, to be honest".
Adverbial phrases
Adverbial phrases such as "really, absolutely, literally, of course,
extremely, basically" modify adjectives and convey the speaker's
attitudes and values (thereby intensifying their feelings and opinions).
Semantics
A study of the meaning of words.
Pragmatics
The analysis of the context in which we speak.
Utterance
A turn by a speaker in a dialogue (spontaneous speech cannot be said
to have 'sentences')
Contraction
The elision of two words, for example, 'don't' instead of 'do not'.