On the structure of spoken language

Abstract

The special structure of spoken language is often described as "ill-formed" but this paper shows that it is ideally suited to the simultaneous expression of (a) propositional content (i.e., linguistic information) and (b) speaker-state, discourse management cues, and speaker-listener-relationships (i.e., affective information). This paper shows that by the frequent insertion of so-called "fillers" and other repetitive fragments, the speaker provides the listener with constant reference points for evaluating affective states as displayed by voice-quality information. Keywords expressing affect, spontaneous communication, 'wrappers & fillers', sentence structure, discourse control.