CHAPTER 2. TRANSCRIBING CONVENTIONS
This chapter presents a set of basic symbols for transcribing
spoken discourse, along with comments on how to use them. For
each symbol or convention, examples are gresented1 drawn from
transcriptions of natural conversations. In some cases, we
comment on such issues as why the phenomenon in question should
be attended to. where appropriate, we also comment on relevant
details of orthographic convention or style such as the placement
of spaces. (Unless otherwise noted, the transcription symbols
presented below are always to be preceded by a single space and
followed by a single space; that is, they are to be separated
from surrounding words, and other material, by one space.)
2.1 Pause and prosody.
The placement and timing of pauses in spoken discourse
conveys significant information about the speaker9s discourse
production process and orientation toward the ongoing
conversational interaction. Pauses should be indicated
explicitly using one of the following three notations. Since the
intonational symbols (e.g. comma and single period, §2.2) do not
of themselves denote pause, any pause (even a slight one) that
occurs in conjunction with an intonation contour must be
specifically indicated using one of the pause notations.
By convention, a pause between two intonation units is
written together with the unit that follows it rather than with
the one that precedes it.
(1) ...(.n) long (timed) pause
This indicates a pause of about 0.7 seconds or longer, for
which the approximate duration is indicated, in parentheses to
the nearest tenth of a second (as determined roughly with a
stopwatch).9 (That is, the duration is indicated as (.7), (.8),
(1.2), etc.) (A space precedes the initial period, and a space
follows the right parenthesis, but no space appears internal to
this character string.)
(la)
D: ... (3.0) I 'had them 'done at ^pips.
... (l.0) You ^see it,
((TRN_CARS))
(1b)
R: ... (HH) 'We 'start 'out ... (.8) with
...(.8) 'dead ^horse hooves.
((TRN_RANCH))
10
(1c)
R: ... ^This .. is a 'type of 'person,
...(.9) 'that ...(.7) is 'like ...(l.0) a 'hermit.
((TRN_RANCH))
(1d)
J: .. when 'I think of ^a=ds,
.. I 'think of | ...(l.2) 'aesthetics.
((TRN_AESTH))
(1e)
A: ... ^down at the= uh --
... (1.2) ^reading the 'gau=ge, (TRN_FARM))
In some cases, the questions of whether a pause has occurred
in a specific place, how long it lasts, and whose pause it is,
become subtly and inextricably linked to the interpretation of
turn-taking and overlapping between speakers (§3.2, step 15).
(2) ... medium pause
'this indicates a pause which is noticeable, but not very long
-- about half a second in duration (0.3 - 0.6 seconds). (A space
precedes and follows the string of three periods, but no spaces
appear between them.)
(2a)
J: m=hm.
S: ... 'That's what .. the ^poet is 'after,
(TRN_AESTH)
(2b)
S: .. (HH) 'U=m,
... That's ^o=ne 'kind of thing,
((TRN_AESTH))
(2c)
G: ...(1.7) I'd 'like to 'have .. my% ... ^lungs,
... my ^entire respiratory 'tract,
... (HH) ^replaced,
... (HH) with .. 'asbestos.
.. or 'something.
((TRN_HYPO))
(3) .. very short pause; tempo lag
This indicates a brief break in speech rhythm: that is, a
very short, barely perceptible, pause (about 0.2 seconds or
less), or a lag in tempo. The best way to determine whether the
two-dot symbol is called for is to imagine a metronome ticking at
11
the same rate as the speaker is currently producing syllables- A
word which lags behind the speaker's rate of syllable production
(or lags behind one's mental metronome ticks) exhibits the tempo
lag, and should be preceded by two dots. It should be noted that
not all instances of the two-dot symbol will correspond to an
actual silence, nor are all brief silences to be marked: the
moment of silence which necessarily occurs during a lexically or
phonologically required glottal stop (or other voiceless stop) is
not to be written with two dots. The reason for this is that we
are interested in the pause as a functional cue to aspects of
discourse production and conversational interaction, not as a raw
acoustic fact. (A space precedes and follows the string of two
periods, but no space appears between them.)
(3a)
R: ... And 'then,
.. they ^videotape us,
.. 'as we ^go.
((TRN_RANCH))
(3b)
R: .. a ^reining pattern is,
.. a ^pattern where you= .. do sliding 'sto=ps,
.. spi=ns,
... ^lead changes,
.. I ^know you 'probably don't 'know what that 'is.
((TRN_RANCH))
(3c)
D: .. I mean,
'I have the 'opportunity,
to ^talk to people,
.. to ^get the 'phone book,
((TRN_CARS))
(3d)
B: ... 'She just .. pulled the 'cat
| .. and the 'kittens ^out,
.. and 'pulled off the ^bread that was 'dirty
and,
... we ^served the 'rest of it.
((TRN_DEPR))
(3e)
J: .. I mean,
there are ^people that ar=e .. just 'hard to .. ^sell
to.
S: .. mhm,
J: ... and 'hard to ^advertise to.
((TRN_AESTH))
12
(4) = lengthened segment
This indicates that a syllable or segment is lengthened
prosodically (to a degree greater than what is expected on the
basis at lexical stress patterns). The slight lengthening which
is to be expected when a syllable is stressed is not marked with
the equals sign (being implicit in the stress marking).
similarly, segments which are phonemically long (in a language
with a length contrast for vowels or consonants) do not receive
the equals sign notation: they should be written with a different
symbol (e.g. colon or doubled letters). Prosodic lengthening is
often heard in the final syllable of the intonation unit
(especially if the word bears nuclear stress). (The equals
sign is written immediately following the lengthened segment; no
spaces separate it from the letters of the word it appears in.
For phonemes that are represented in standard orthography by a
digraph (e.g. in English, ee, ea, oo, ph, ch, tt, etc.), the
convention is that the equals sign is written after both letters
of the digraph.)
(4a)
K: ... (.7) ^Glen's never had a% .. a ^co=ld,
.. or the ^flu=,
((TRN_HYPO))
(4b)
A: ... The 'thing ^about him 'i=s,
.. he 'ca=n't ^spe=ll.
((TRN_FARM))
(4c)
A: .. and I decide I'm going to get a ^ne=w door,
.. and a ^ne=w 'jamb.
((TRN_DOOR))
(4d)
N: .. (HH) she was ^f=rantically | .. ^running 'arou=nd,
like 'trying to get ^away from him.
((TRN_J&J))
(5) N primary stress
This symbol indicates a word which bears a primary stress.
The stressed word is immediately preceded by a double quote mark,
with no space between it and the ward. In English and many other
languages, the particular syllable on which this stress is
realized is lexically predictable, and thus need not be indicated
in a discourse-level transcription. (For the occasional
utterance of a word token in which stress is realized on a
syllable other than the normal one, this fact can be captured by
using the notation provided for phonetic transcription (§2.4).)
13
( 5a)
B: .. ^I met 'him,
and I 'thought he was a 'ni=ce ^kid.
S: .. He ^is a nice 'kid.
but he's ^wei=rd.
(TRN_FARM))
(5b)
B: .. I ^never 'met the guy=.
((TRN_FARM))
(5c)
J: 'This is one of the things I've ^thought about,
a ^lot.
S: (0) 'Yeah.
(TRN_AESTH))
(6) ' [grave accent] secondary stress
The grave accent character11 indicates a word which bears
secondary stress (relative to nearby stressed and unstressed
words). The grave accent immediately precedes the word in
question, with no space between it and the word.
(6a)
J: ... 'You know,
'that's just a 'fact about that ^thing.
((TRN_AESTH))
(6b)
G: ... (2.2) 'a=nd,
of course,
a 'lot of herb 'tea,
when I'd 'rather be drinking ^whiskey.
((TRN_HYPO))
14
(6c)
R: ...You know,
^I had been 'practicing this |.. with my ^horse,
.. for a 'lo=ng ^time.
but ^never when anybody was around.
((TRN_RANCH))
Because it can be difficult to distinguish reliably between
three degrees of stress -- primary stress, secondary stress, and
(implicitly) non-stress -- some researchers may prefer to mark
only two degrees of stress, corresponding to stress (to be
written with grave accent) and non-stress (unmarked).
2.2 Intonation contour.
The five symbols in this section are used for very partially
representing the shape of intonation contours, using for the most
part the available symbols of written punctuation. We are not
particularly satisfied with these categories and notations far
intonation, but we can make do with them as long as it is
realized that the punctuation symbols are to be used and
interpreted intonationaily, and not grammatically or
semantically. For researchers who wish to invest the considerable
effort required to do justice to intonation in discourse, the
work of the London and Lund researchers (crystal 1975, Svartvik
and Quirk 1979, etc.), Gumperz (1982), and others should be
consulted (see Cruttenden 1986 far additional references) * (For
the notion of intonation unit, see Chafe (1979, 1960b, 1967,
forthcoming); for a discussion of point-by-point vs. unit summary
systems for intonation transcription, see Du Bois (forthcoming
a).) (The intonation contour symbols in this section are written
at the end of the line they appear in.)
(7) . (period) final pitch contour
The period is used to indicate a pitch contour which is
understood as final in a given language. For English and many
other languages, this means primarily (but not exclusively) a
rail in pitch at the end of an intonation unit It is important
to recall that, since this symbol has intonational rather than
syntactic meaning, it can appear in places other than the end of
a sentence. conversely, it need not appear at the end of every
(normative) sentence.
(7a)
J: ...(l.5) You're 'not ^say=ing something,
you're ^doing something to people.
((TRN_AESTH))
15
(7b)
A: You 'don't ^see them very often.
((TRN_AFR))
(7c)
R: .. For 'what.
B: ... They 'make ^rope of it.
((TRN_DEPR))
(7d)
A: 'We don't have a ... kind of
| ..'vehicle to ^tra=nsport these things.
((TRN_DOOR))
(8) , [comma] continuing pitch contour
The comma is used to indicate a pitch contour which is
understood as continuing in a given language. In practice this
is a loose cover symbol for a variety of nonfinal contours that
are neither period intonation nor question intonation. The
contour is often realized in English as a level or slight rise in
pitch at the end of an intonation unit, but it has other
realizations also, each of which no doubt has slightly different
pragmatic implications. (A perspicacious and efficient means of
distinguishing among the many contours subsumed under this symbol
would be a valuable contribution to discourse studies.)
(8a)
R: If you 'think about it,
'yeah,
if it 'rains a lot,
.. the 'horse is always 'we=t,
.. and it's always 'moi=st,
.. it's always on something 'moi=st,
... ^Sure it's going to be 'softer.
((TRN_RANCH))
(8b)
D: .. I have my ^own 'telephone,
my ^brie=fca=se,
I can 'work on ^cli=ents,
all the 'time,
.. (HH).. 'You know,
^call them on the 'pho=ne,
.. and uh=,
... 'take a ^lunch,
((TRN_CAR))
16
(8c)
J: .. (HH) And I looked 'over,
... ^into the 'street,
and saw this ^cop car,
'going along,
.. ^right ... 'next to me,
you 'know,
like .. 'five miles an ^hou=r.
((TRN-J&J))
(9) ? rising question contour
This indicates a marked rise in pitch at the end of an
intonation unit, as is characteristic of a polar (yes-no)
question. It is not used for a grammatical question uttered with
declarative intonation. conversely, it may appear at the end of
units which do not have the morphosyntactic structure of a
(normative) question.
(9a)
B: ... But .. ^were they 'rattle snakes ?
((TRN_DEPR))
(9b)
B: .. 'she never 'raised ^hemp?
((TRN_DEPR))
(9c)
D: I 'ordered a ^thou=sand 'business cards.
G: Yeah?
... You 'get them 'printed ^here ?
((TRN_CARS))
(9d)
A: .. And we were 'ma=d,
... because 'Gladys had told us we 'had to be 'back by
^Monday,
.. even though 'Monday was a ^holiday ?
.. ^Remember that ?
((TRN_APFRICA))
(9e)
J: < Q ... 'Should we ^waste him ?
or should we ^stop him,
and ... ^then 'waste him. Q>
((TRN_J&J))
17
(10) ! exclamatory intonation
The exclamation point marks an intonation contour that is
understood as exclamatory. It is typically realized as increased
pitch range and sudden pitch movement, and sometimes increased
loudness.
(10a)
S: ^Bo=y was that 'goo=d!
((TRN_AESTH))
(10b)
D: ...(.9) 'No 'basketball.
G: ...(1.0) ^Really!
((TRN_CARS))
(l0c)
M: .. 'You're ^kidding!
S: (0) 'Yeah.
((TRN_FARM))
(l0d)
S: ... A 'lot of it's really ^ba=d!
((TRN_AESTH))
(10e)
A: ... 'That guy makes 'ZZZ look ^kick-ba=ck.
B: ...(1.0) ^Wha=t!
((TRN_FARM))
(l0f)
B: ... 'we ^served the 'rest of it.
R: ... You're ^kidding.
B: .. ^No=! ((TRN_DEPR))
(11) -- [2 (tildes)/dashes ] truncated intonation unit
This indicates that the speaker breaks off the intonation
unit (§2.10) before completing its projected contour- This
occurs primarily in cases where a speaker utters the initial
portion of an intonation contour, but abandons it before
completing it -- that is, in a false start. Double tilde is not
intended to represent the case of a unit which appears incomplete
when measured against the canons of normative clause grammar.
Intonation units which do not constitute complete clauses are of
course commonplace: they are frequently marked with a comma at
the end, which signals E intonation -- a kind of
incompleteness, if you will, but of a variety which is distinct
in principle from the truncation signaled by double tilde. The
comma-delimited unit typically constitutes (apparently) all that
the speaker projected to say within the current unit, while in
18
the double tilde-delimited unit the speaker projected to say more
with the current unit, but abandoned some portion of the
projected utterance. Truncation is thus measured not against
normative notions of clause completeness, but against the
speaker's presumed projection for the current unit.
Note that virtually every intonation unit should have some
intonation contour symbol at the end of it E at the end of
every line). If an intonation unit does not have a comma,
period, question mark, or exclamation point, Et will in general
have a double tilde (Du Bois, forthcoming a)
(11a)
A: ... But he's --
... He's 'decided he wants to be 'ca=lled ^Doc.
((TRN_FARN))
(11b)
J: ... And he= --
.. and he .. ^k=icks my 'feet 'apart,
((TRN_J&J))
(11c)
D: ... 'you know,
.. to 'get leads,
and 'talk --
.. 'communicate with 'people on the ^phone.
((TRN_CARS))
(11d)
A: ... So I%- --
.. I%- --
.. I ^get in the 'ca=r,
((TRN_DOOR))
(11e)
A: ..(HH) .. And there's --
... (%) ^Nothing --
.. ^Nothing with two ^tee='s in it,
... does he ^get 'ri=ght.
((TRN_EFARN))
(11f)
R: He 'doesn't have any --
...(.8) He 'doesn't 'know what's going 'on in this ^world.
((TRN_RANCH))
19
2.3 Marked quality or prosody
(12) < Y words Y> marked quality, tempo, etc.
The angle brackets <> can be used (in conjunction with an
additional symbol, represented above by X) to indicate that the
stretch of text which they enclose has a marked quality of some
sort; the particular quality (higher pitch, increased loudness,
etc.) is specified by the supplementary symbol. The amount of
text enclosed within these symbols often amounts to several
words, and can run across several lines. The marked quality is
judged relative to the surrounding discourse produced by the same
speaker (e.g., a sentence would be marked for tempo if it is
noticeably quicker or slower than the speaker's current or usual
tempo) - This set of symbols is in principle open-ended, and new
ones can be developed to suit a particular investigator's needs.
Listed below are some of the more common one5. In our own
transcribing, we use these notations sparingly. Also, we use
angle brackets to frame only a whole word or group of words; we
do not try to place them within a word (e.g. to mark its final
syllable as piano) ¶5 (No space appears between the bracket and
the supplementary symbol; but a space precedes and follows each
symbol pair.)
< H H> high: raised pitch
< L L> low: lowered pitch
< R R> rapid: quicker tempo
< S S> slow: slower tempo
< F F> forte: increased loudness
< P P> piano: decreased loudness
< Q Q> quotation: quoted quality
<% %> creaky voice, glottalized
< MARC MARC> marcato: each word distinct and emphasized
< ACC ACC> accelerando: gradual speeding up
< DEC DEC> decelerando: gradual slowing down
< PAR PAR> parenthetical prosody
< WHIS WHIS> whispered words
Following are several instances of the above special quality
notations.
(12a)
M: ...(.9) < WHIS It 'isn't the ^same 'thing WHIS >.
X: ... ^Looks like it,
((TRN_LUNCH))
20
(12b)
A: .. they 'let us 'alone.
...< WHIS 'But we were ^scared,
.. And 'boy WHIS >,
did we ^ever get in 'trouble,
from 'Milt and 'Arnold.
((TRN_AFR))
(13) < P words P> piano: decreased loudness
This angle-bracket pair can be used to enclose a stretch of
speech which is produced with relatively decreased loudness.
(13a)
J: .. < % a=nd I think,
< P Well P>,
.. this is a 'terrible .. ^technique to use % >.
((TRN_AESTH))
(13b)
R: (%) .. (HH) (%)
... (%) .. 'But .. uh=,
... (3.0) < P 'What was I going to 'say P>.
(3.5) X%- --
'0=h,
it's ^really 'ti=ring,
though.
((TRN_RANCH))
(13c)
S: .. 'you= .. 'aren't ^aware of any of that.
J: (HH) Yeah.
S: .. [Yeah 1]
J: [< P< X Right X>P> 1].
((TRN_AESTH))
(14) < MARC words MARC> marcato
The pair < MARC MARC> can be used for a stretch at marcato
speech, in which each word is uttered distinctly and with
emphasis.
(14a)
J: ... But the 'goldfish got ^s=tuck,
... < MARC 'h=alfway 'into his ^mouth MARC>.
((TRN_J&J))
(15) < Q words Q> quotation
This pair indicates direct quotations. Its use is warranted
where there is some actual shift in the quality of the stretch of
quoted speech, as when the quoting speaker imitates some
21
mannerism of the quoted speaker. (whether the notation is
appropriate where no such shift is audible is debatable.)
(15a)
J: .. 'This is a ^literal 'quote,
.. he 'says to me,
... (HH) < Q I'm 'going to ^res=train 'you.
.. to the ^fence Q>.
((TRN_J&J))
(15b)
G: and 'then he'd 'say,
.. (HH) < Q 'I 'can't ^believe it.
'Nobody will 'pick me ^up Q>.
(TRN_HYPO))
(l5c)
A: and he's 'say=ing,
...(1.7) (TSK) (HH) .. < Q 'A=h,
^yea=h,
.. We 'call 'ourselves,
the 'special ^forces of Santa 'Monica Q>.
((TRN_FARN))
Note that the quotation symbol is not used for metalanguaqe,
such as the name of a letter or a reference to a word.
(l5d)
A: and he 'spelt ^hee=l,
h e a ^l=,
S: .. @
A: and he 'spelt ^said,
.. s i a ^d.
((TRN_FARN))
(16) < Y< Z words Z>Y> multiple marked features
When a stretch of speech is characterized by two or more
coextensive special qualities worth noting, these can be
indicated with multiple angle brackets. (The several angle-
bracket notations are juxtaposed without any space between them.)
(16a)
J: .. So the 'guy 'yells at me,
... (0.9) < Q< F Is 'that your ^dog F>Q> ?
((TRN_J&J))
(16b)
G: .. They're ^drunk.
.. < Q< F ^Where's these ^Americans F>Q>?
They come ^bursting in the ^room.
((TRN_HYPO))
22
(16c)
ALL: [ @==1]
[ @>P> 1].
((TRN_DOOR))
2.4 Segmental phonetic detail.
(17) % glottal stop, glottalization
The percent sign indicates the presence of a (prosodic)
glottal stop or glottalization. The percent sign is E written
in positions where it is phonologically predictable, e.g. at the
beginning of vowel-initial words (under certain conditions) in
English. Nor is it written where it is lexically required, as
commonly occurs in languages with phonemic glottal stop -- for
which a distinct symbol should be used. one reason for taking
the trouble to transcribe glottal stop is that speakers often
seem to use it when they abandon a word or utterance. If glottal
stop functions as an Collective) cue for abandoned utterances, it
is useful to have it on record, glottal stop and glottalization
may act as a cue to other aspects of the discourse production
process as well. (The t is written without surrounding spaces if
it is part of a word. If it occurs as an isolated vocal noise,
it is written within parentheses, which are surrounded by
spaces.)
(l7a)
S: ... (%).. < Q It's ^Thanksgiving 'time ^now,
((TRN_AESTH))
(17b)
R: ... 'Down ^the=re,
.. u=m,
.. it's ^mandatory,
.. you have to% --
(%).. to ^graduate,
.. you ^know,
.. (%) 'well,
to ... ^get the degree=,
you know,
...(HH) you ^have to 'take this ^class.
((TRN_RANCH))
(17c)
J: ...(2.4) (TSK) that the=% | ... (.8) 'set of ^sentences,
((TRN_AESTH))
23
(17d)
J: (0) (HH) <% Tha%- .. this% --
.. I ^wonder 'abou=t that though,
I mean %>,
.. when 'I think of ^a=ds,
((TRN_AESTH))
(18) - (tilde)/dash truncated (uncompleted) word
The single tilde indicates that a word is not completed: the
end of the word is not uttered. This symbol often occurs in
conjunction with a glottal stop, but not always -- either may
occur independently of the other. The truncated word in- question
can be written out in full to achieve normalization; where it
seems significant, the actual pronunciation can be written using
phonetic notation (see next item). (No space appears between
ward and tilde.)
Note that even if none of the segments (phonemes) of a word
is entirely absent, a truncation may still be involved if the
final segment is cut oft before it reaches the full duration it
would have in a normal pronunciation. For example, if the word
the is pronounced so that the final vowel is interrupted (e.g. by
a glottal stop) before it reaches half the duration it normally
would reach, this warrants use of the word truncation symbol
(the%-).
(18a)
A: But 'it was --
... till 'five%- --
I 'remember,
.. ^fi=ve o'clock | I 'finally got the 'door in,
((TRN_DOOR))
(18b)
J: ... You 'know how they ^do that,
so you 'can't s- .. 'ha- --
.. you don't 'have any ^balance.
((TRN_J&J))
(l8c)
N: .. and I 'came up 'behind him,
and I wa%- --
.. I was ^hugging him,
while he was ^shaving.
...(HH) 'And as ^I was 'hugging him,
...(0.8) 'he just 'sli%- .. ^dropped.
... ^slipped from my 'hands.
.. to the floor.
he like ^f=ainted.
((TRN_J&J))
24
(19) ((text)) phonetically transcribed words
This symbol complex encloses a representation of the actual
pronunciation of a word4 This transcription is given in addition
to the traditional orthographic representation of the same
word(s), which it follows and to which it is linked by the
underscore character (E). The material within the parentheses
can be written in a phonemic or broad phonetic transcription in
International Phonetic Association CIPA) symbols; in another
system for representing pronunciation, such as the system for
English phonemic transcription using ordinary roman letters,
called UNIBET (MacWhinney l988:32ff); or --where ambiguity will
not result -- in standard orthography supplemented by selected
phonetic symbols (e.g. stress marks applied to the standard
spelling of a word). Phonetic transcription is used only where
the actual pronunciation of a word is of special significance for
the analyst's purposes. Most of the time standard orthography
used alone is sufficient. (No spaces appear between the
parentheses and the transcribed segments.)
(19a)
J: in= t- 'terms_ ((torms)) .. ^terms of,
((TRN_AESTH))
(19b)
R: ... 'You don't 'really 'realize you're
^progressing_((progressing)).
((TRN_RANCH))
2.5 Nonverbal vocal sounds.
(20) (TEXT) nonverbal vocal sound
Single parentheses surrounding a description written in
capital letters (COUGH) are used to indicate nonverbal sounds
produced in the vocal tract of speech event participants. This
encompasses throat-clearing, coughs, clicks, breathing, eta.1 but
not dish-washing, finger-drumming, dogs barking, etc. (for which
double parentheses are used, §2.7).
The reason for distinguishing vocal tract noises made by
speech event participants as a special category is that
participants often use this channel to give each other subtle
cues about aspects of the on-going linguistic interaction, e.g.
breathing in to signal the purpose to speak next. Crickets
chirping and microphones rustling do not consistently carry such
interpersonal meanings for humans.
The next few items present common instances of this notation.
25
(21) (TSK) click
This indicates the utterance of a click (usually alveolar) as
an isolated vocal noise, e.g. what is commonly written tsk in
newspaper cartoon style.
(21a)
R: .. and ^the=n,
...(1.2) (TSK) (%) ^our 'job,
is to 'shape the ^shoe=,
... to the 'horse's ^foot.
((TRN_RANCH))
(21b)
S: ..(HH).. 'u=m,
.. (TSK) 'ha=s ... ^something= .. to=
|.. ^communicate,
.. with 'me=,
((TRN_AESTH))
(22) (THROAT) throat-clearing
This indicates the sound made by someone clearing their
throat.
(22a)
S: (HH) (THROAT)
.. Yea=h.
((TRN_AESTH))
(22b)
S: ... (GULP) (TSK) The ^gap is very 'big.
((TRN_AESTH))
(23) (HH) inhalation
This indicates audible inhalation. (The number of H's is by
convention fixed at two.)
(23a)
A, ...(1.0) (HH) 'A=nd,
((TRN_FARN))
(23b)
G: ... (1.4) (HH) .. ^I've got to get 'out of that 'place,
man,
I 'swear.
((TRN_CARS))
26
(23c)
K: ... (HH).. @^leukemia=,
... (HH) ^bronchitis,
... (HH)uh=,
... ^tuberculosis,
.. @@@@ (HH)
.. and he's ^recovered from all.
((TRN_HYPO))
(24) (HHx) exhalation
This indicates audible exhalation. (The number at H's is
fixed at two.)
(24a)
B: ...(4.3) (HHx) ... ^Kids in the 'city | 'miss so 'mu=ch.
((TRN_DEPR))
(24b)
S: (HHx) (TSK) .. an ^artist,
(TRN_AESTH))
(24c)
J: ...(1.5) So= .. the%- (HHx) --
...(2.2)Well.
((TRN_AESTH))
(25) @ laugh syllable
This symbol indicates a laugh, produced as a vocal noise
separately front any words produced by the same speaker. One
token of @ is used per syllable of laughter (when the laughter
is brief; for extended laughter, see the following symbol).
Note that a laugh can be rhythmically integrated as part of a
larger (major) intonation unit, or it can be produced as a
separate intonation unit of its own (Du Bois, forthcoming a).
(25a)
K, .. @@@@
... (HH)From which you ^haven't recovered.
((TRN_HYPO))
(25b)
S: ...(1.0) @ (HH) There 'isn't any ^rea=l
'communication going on.
J: (0) Yeah.
((TRN_AESTH))
27
(25c)
A: .. 'That was the ^only thing that went 'smoo=thly,
that we've ^ever do=ne.
B: .. @ That ^you='ve.
... ^I couldn't even ^begin to do it.
((TRN_DOOR))
(25d)
J: .. The 'conclusion is up to ^you=.
S: [ m=hm 2],
J: [ @@@ 2] in 'going out to --
(HH) ... to ^buy the thing.
(TRN_AESTH))
(26) @== Extended laughter
This symbol can be used for laughter of extended duration,
when the investigator is not currently interested in indicating
how many syllables of laughter there are, or when such indication
is not feasible.
(26a)
ALL: [ @== 1]
D: [ < X< P< @ We 'all like to 'eat @>P>X> 1].
((TRN_DOOR))
If the actual duration of the laughter is deemed important,
it can be timed with a stopwatch and indicated within double
parentheses, which are linked to the laughter symbol by an
underscore: thus 0=-E((6.2)) would indicate laughter lasting 6.2
seconds.
(27) @N nasal laugh
This symbol is sometimes used for nasal laughter, in which
the air is emitted through the nose. (The unmarked symbol for
laughter, however, is simply @.)
(27a)
J: ... You're ^not supposed to 'use these 'powerful
[ ^techni=ques 1].
S: [ @N@N@N@N 1] (HH)
... Hm=.
((TRN_AESTH))
(28) <@ words @>, @word laughing while speaking
The angle bracket pair (either < @ @> or < @N @N>, as
appropriate) indicates laughter over a stretch of speaking (the
words enclosed between the two @'s or @N's). Ordinarily we use
these symbol pairs to frame only a whole word or group of words;
we do not try to indicate laughter on particular syllables within
28
a word. If a laugh occurs during the utterance of just one word,
this can alternatively be indicated simply by prefixing the word
with one "@" sign.
(28a)
A: .. (HH) .. and they ^stepped out in the 'road,
and ^not only did they have ^uniforms on,
but they < @ 'also had ^gun=s= @>.
[ @@@ 1]
B: [ (HHx) 1]
((TRN_AFR))
(28b)
S: (0) It's @^pleasing (HHx)
((TRN_AESTH))
(28c)
K: .. @
G: ... @ There isn't --
It's < @ ^no 'disea=se,
at 'a=ll @>.
K: .. 'Athletic feet.
... @N .. 'foot.
D: .. @N .. @'foot.
((TRN_HYPO))
(28d)
N: 'You know,
'this was a 'rented @^snake,
@,
((TRN_J&J))
2.6 Filled pause and backchannel words.
The following list presents a set of orthographic conventions
for spelling sounds used in filled pauses, backahannel, and so
on, in spoken English. The purpose of the list is to standardize
the spelling of sounds and words that don't ordinarily appear in
English dictionaries, so that they can be transcribed
consistently and identified systematically by computer. The
conventions are based roughly on those used in American newspaper
cartoons. (The glosses are given only to suggest to the reader
which sound is meant, and are not intended as actual analyses of
discourse functions.)
In these notations, 'in roughly indicates nasalization of the
preceding vowel, and - (hyphen) corresponds to a glottal stop
In actual transcriptions, the lengthening symbol (=) very often
occurs in these words.
29
(29) uh hesitation (filled pause)
um
unh
m backchannel, awareness, wonder
hm
huh
hunh
mhm affirmative response (final syllable stressed)
unhunh
uhuh
unh-unh negative response (initial syllable stressed)
uh-oh alarm cry
(29a)
J: .. I 'think of |... (1.2) 'aesthetics.
..@ @a=nd,
S: .. M=hm=,
J: u=h,
S: ... (1.5) 'Hm=.
... @
J: ... 'creation of ^desi=re,
.. for ^one thi=ng.
S: m=hm=,
((TRN_AESTH))
(29b)
J: .. (HH) .. And I thought,
...(0.7) < Q ^Uh-oh= Q>
((TRN_J&J))
2.7 Transcriber's perspective.
(30) < X words X> uncertain hearing
This pair encloses portions of the text which are not clearly
audible. The words so enclosed represent the transcriber's best
guess as to what was said, but their accuracy is not assured.
(30a)
J: .. < X I mean X> 'why do people actually ^wa=lk
.. 'into=,
(HH) ^art museums.
((TRN_AESTH))
(30b)
G: ...(l.2) Well,
I [ ^don't 1] 'normally 'sound like ^Lucille 'Ball.
K: [ < X That's X> 1] --
((TRN_HYFO))
30
(31) X indecipherable syllable
The capital letter X indicates segments of speech which are
not audible enough to allow a reasonable guess at what was said.
One X is used far each syllable of indecipherable speech- (It is
usually possible to make at least a rough estimate of how many
syllables were uttered, even when one can't make out what the
words are.) (Such X's are written alone, without the angle
bracket-X symbol which indicates an uncertain hearing.)
(31a)
A: (0) It's ^some 'story,
XX.
((TRN_DOOR))
(31b)
D: .. It was 'basically ^me=,
'you know,
X 'going ^out.
.. The 'problem of going ^out.
((TRN_CARS))
(31c)
A: .. And he's got < P ^all this,
.. < X 'you know X>P>,
... and 'everything ^else X,
((TRN_FARN))
(32) ((COMMENT)) researcher 's comment
This pair encloses any comment the transcriber or researcher
chooses to make. It can be used as well to note the occurrence
of noises not made in the human vocal tract, though such sounds
are usually written only if they are relevant to the human
interaction at hand (as when speech event participants comment on
or otherwise react to the noise) E Comments are best kept
short. Writing comments in all capital letters helps to visually
distinguish these words from the words actually uttered by speech
event participants (§1.3.1)
One common comment, as standardized in brief form, is
((MIC)), which indicates noise from the microphone when it is
moved (e.g. by the investigator.)E
31
(32a)
N: .. the ^way that | .. the 'Indians ^li=ve,
.. like Cany%- .. [ Canyon de 1] 'Chelly= ?
X: [ ((BLOWS_WHISTLE)) 1]
J: ... < P It's a 'whistle P>.
N: ... The ^way that the 'Indians ^li=ve,
... (HH) is ^incredible.
.. They 'still 'live,
.. u=m,
.. 'mi=les and 'mi=les ^apart from each other,
.. in ^ho=gans,
.. (HH) And they're s- .. 'intersper=sed,
.. and% --
.. and they're=,
...(.8) 'you know,
...(.9) (DOG_BARKS_EXCITEDLY))
.. @@@@@ ..(HH)
@@@ (HH) (HHx)
J: You 'know% --
.. You 'know%,
.. about ^this 'piece ?
N: .. < PAR 'She ^always does that PAR>. ((REF_TO_DOG))
((TRN_J&J))
(32b)
J, (0) 'I spend a 'lot of ti=me,
((MIC)) ...(1.O) ^analyzing 'a=ds,
.. 'myself,
((TRN_AESTH))
(32c)
A, .. ^Think of your 'door,
.. ^here. ((GESTURES?))
((TRN_DOOR))
If it is important to make clear that a given comment applies
just to a certain stretch of speech, this can be indicated by
enclosing the relevant stretch of speech in angle brackets, and
writing the comment within the usual double parentheses. A
numerical index is then attached to both the angle brackets and
the associated comment, as follows:
<1 words 1> ((COMMENT))
32
2.8 Turns and overlap.
(33) A: the speaker is A
The speaker of a given line of the transcription is indicated
by a code or a proper name (written all in capital letters) at
the start of the turn or backchannel (as the first item in the
line, to the left of the spoken words). Successive lines uttered
by the same speaker need not be so marked. The speaker code or
name is followed, without an intervening space, by a semicolon.
(At least one space or tab appears between the semicolon and the
beginning of the text.)24
While speakers can be represented by codes like "A" or "B",
one often gets a clearer impression of who the participants are
if their utterances are tagged with personal names, which are
more memorable. The names can be the speakers' own, or made-up
names, depending on privacy considerations. Names are especially
important if the speakers use the names to refer to each other
during the course of a conversation -- in which case, obviously,
the (made-up) name in the speaker label should match the (made-
up) name in the speech (§2.9). (when it is unclear which of
several speakers on a tape is responsible for a particular
utterance or noise, the symbol "X:" is used to label the
unidentified speaker.)
(33a)
A: .. 'No=w that we have the [ ^si=de door 1] fixed,
he could.
B: [ That's 'kind of 1] --
.. Yea=h,
C: (0) @Yeah (HHx).
D: ... Sure.
((TRN_DOOR))
(33b)
JACK: 'That's all it ^does.
.. It 'doesn't [ .. even 1] ^reach a 'conclusion.
SANDY: [ m=hm 1],
JACK: .. The 'conclusion is up to ^you=.
SANDY: [ m=hm 2],
JACK: [ @@@ 2] in 'going out to --
(HH) ... to ^buy the thing.
SANDY: .. 'Hm=.
.. 'Hm.
(HH) ...(l.0) O=kay=.
((TRN_AESTH))
(33c)
x: [ ((BLOWS WHISTLE)) 1]
((TRN_J&J))
33
(34) [ words n] speech overlap (new convention: [n words n])
Square brackets are used to indicate the beginning (left
bracket) and ending (right bracket) of overlap between the
utterances of two speakers. One set of brackets is inserted
surrounding the first speaker's overlapping utterance portion,
and a second set of brackets surrounds the second speaker's
overlapping portion. This notation signals that the two
bracketed utterance portions were uttered at the same time.
A numerical index (n-i, 2, 3, ...) is then assigned to the
overlap, and is inserted into each speaker's overlap (prefixed to
the right bracket that marks the ending of the overlap). If
several overlaps occur within a short stretch of text, these
index numbers serve to mark which bracketed text portions go
together; successive numbers are used to make clear what is
overlapping with what. When there is no danger of confusion
(i.e. after a stretch with no overlaps), numbering should restart
with 1.
We do not put square brackets within a word. That is, we do
not try to indicate the exact syllable or segment where overlap
begins and ends, since we have found that such precision is
difficult to achieve reliably, and for our purposes may not merit
the additional time spent. (It also makes transcriptions harder
to read.) If a substantial portion of a word overlaps, it is
included within the brackets; if only a small portion overlaps,
it is not.
(34a)
B: ... I 'remember,
...(.8) I 'used to 'help Benny,
and I'd get ^twenty-five 'cents a 'week.
R: ... (1.2) [A ^week l]!
B: [ 'Twenty 1] --
((TRN_DEPR))
(34b)
B: ... 'They were kind of ^scary.
...(1.6) the [ 'gypsies 1].
R: [ mhm 1],
((TRN_DEPR))
(34c)
A: .. (HH) 'But,
.. [ the 'thing ab- 1] --
B: [ The 'spe=cial 1] ^f=orces !
A: (0) 'Yea=h.
... [ But the 'thing ^about him 2] --
B: [ This 'place is getting 2] ^wei=rd.
((TRN_FARN))
34
(34d)
G: ... (.7) Well,
the ^worst [ thing | 'I ^ever had,
was ^brai=n 1] fever,
K: [ @ @^He's a 'medical 'miracle 1].
G: when I < X had X> [ proposed 2] to ^her.
D: [ @@ 2]
K: .. @@@@
... (HH) From which you ^haven't recovered
((TRN_HYPO))
(34e)
B: ... But 'I thought ^Mom was 'raising= | ... (.7) ^hemp,
or,
...(1.1) [ 'something 1] one time.
R: [ ^what 1] ?
... [ ^Hemp 2].
B: [ 'Hemp 2].
((TRN_DEPR))
(34f)
B: (0) 'cliff is ^still | .. 'screaming about ^tha=t,
R: ... [ Because he 'wanted the ^stamps 1],
B: [ all those ^stamps 1],
... 'Mom let ^Tim 'Canon have.
((TRN_DEPR))
(34g)
J: .. [ 'yeah 1].
S: [Which= 1] .. ^colors ... ^a=ll of the 'communication,
[after 1] that.
J: [ Yeah 1] .
((TRN_AESTH))
(35) ____ overlap placeholder
Given that in the present transcription system, the
intonation unit must not be fragmented onto two different lines
(§2.10), it is sometimes useful, in cases or complex speech
overlap, to have a symbol that can be placed within one speaker's
intonation unit as a placeholder with which another Speaker's
words can "overlap". For further explanation of the conditions
which warrant use of this symbol, see §2.10 and Du Bois
(forthcoming a).
35
(35a)
J: (HH) ^why [ did 1] people ^tra=sh that% --
S: [ yeah 1],
J: .. [ the% 2] --
S: [ unhunh 2],
J: .. you know,
whe=n .. < PAR u=h PAR> .. 'Stravinsky had his
.. [ ___ 3] ^premie=re,
S: [ m=hm 3],
m=hm,
((TRN_AESTH))
(35b)
J: (0) Tha%- .. 'that's t-
| .. where [ the 2] ^co=gnitive .. [ 'bias .. 3]
| kind of [ ___ 4] .. (HH) [ ^conce=rns 5] me.
S: [ mhm 2],
[ mhm= 3],
[ mhm 4],
[ 'Hm= 5].
((TRN_AESTH))
(36) (0) latching
This symbol (zero in single parentheses) indicates that the
following utterance latches the preceding utterance (i.e. there
is no pause -- or zero pause -- between the two speakers' turns).
Since it symbolizes a noticeable lack of pause between actual
turns, mere continuative backchannel re2sEonses (E, etc.) are
not ordinarily marked with this symbol
(36a)
A: They 'get their 'snake?
R: (0) ^Yeah!
((TRN_AFR))
(36b)
G: ... < X Least X> she'll 'know what her ^good thing was.
D: ... 'Yea=h.
G: (0) ^That's for sure,
D: (0) 'Definitely.
((TRN_CARS))
36
(36c)
G: .. I was 'using number ^seven,
.. 'gun number ^seven,
D: (0) It ^broke the [ 'chisel 1].
G: [ and 1] it ^broke my 'chisel,
man.
< X Now X> --
D: (0) So 'now you have 'no chisel.
G: (0) < X It's X> my ^only good 'chisel.
man,
((TRN_CARS))
2.9 Miscellaneous
(37) ZZZ code for suppressed proper names
The capital letter z is occasionally used to replace censored
proper names in the text (one Z per syllable of replaced text).
Note that in most cases (especially where there is more than one
name needing to be distinguished) it is preferable to make up
names that retain some flavor of the original names (§248).
(37a)
ZZ ZZ (could stand for the speaker's utterance of, e.g. the
words "Edward Sapir")
(37b)
A: ...(.7) His ^name is= | .. ^Z .
((TRN_FARN))
(37c)
S: .. (HH) (TSK) He ^would be 'just about 'Z 'Z's a=ge.
((TRN_AESTH))
2.10 prosodic units
The symbols in this section are used to delimit prosodic
units at various levels. They represent the boundaries between
the units. (Discourse can also be usefully segmented into
marphosyntactic and other kinds of units; see §2.13.3.)
(38) CARRIAGE RETURN intonation unit boundary
The end of an intonation unit (or the boundary between two
intonation units) is indicated by a carriage return. Thus each
intonation unit appears on a separate line. (For a definition of
the intonation unit and a discussion of the cues for identifying
it, see Chafe (forthcoming), Du Bois (forthcoming a), and
Cruttenden (1986:35-45).) (No space appears between the carriage
return and the final character in the line.)
37
(38a)
A: 'Well,
.. ^this is in ... 'bits and ^pieces , ((MIC))
but I was 'coming 'down the ^stai=rs,
and he was there ^ta=lking,
.. to this ^lady.
((TRN_FARN))
(38b)
S: (HHx) 'That's ^interesting ,
.. I mean,
th%- that you should ^pai=r the word 'aesthetics,
... with [ ^advertising 1].
J: [ (HH) 1] ^Yea=h !
((TRN_AESTH))
(38c)
A: for a ^new doo=r,
and ^door ja=mbs,
^ha=rdwa=re,
^stai=n,
^pai=nt
.. 'all the ^stuff that you 'nee=d,
((TRN_DOOR))
(38d)
M: ... It's that ^you=ng,
.. [ ^pa=le ],
A: [ 'yeah 1].
H: .. 'guy with the ^da=rk 'hair.
((TRN_FARN)
Note that a speaker's intonation unit should not be broken up
into two lines even if another speaker's utterance intrudes
between the intonation unit's beginning and its end In dealing
with such cases the overlap placeholder symbol " ___" (underscores)
is sometimes useful (§2.8).
(39) intonation subunit boundary
This symbol (pipe) separates one intonational subunit from
the next, within one intonation unit It is used where the
intonation contour almost seems to warrant recognition of a new
intonation unit, but not quite -- that is, where the unit has
some of the features of a prototypical intonation unit, but not
all. Needless to say, this is often a matter of close judgement,
and should be evaluated accordingly. Some discourse
researchers prefer not to use a concept of intonation subunit,
and so would not use this symbol This symbol is by convention
associated with the following text, so that it precedes any pause
which is associated with the following unit (§2-1).
38
(39a)
S: ... [ 'Well 1],
A: [ You're 'off 1] the ^highway,
'aren't you | ^here ?
((TRN_FARN))
(39b)
A: ... The 'hinge is | .. on the ^inside.
B: (0) Right.
((TRN_DOOR))
(39c)
S: .. (HH) So= that the= .. ^reason
| 'why I'm being 'communicated with,
.. 'i=s | so that 'I can be 'made to ^do something.
(TRN_AESTH))
(39d)
A: which was ^like a | ... (HH) ^Workmate 'be=nch,
.. type ^deal,
with a 'gui=de,
and everything,
((TRN_DOOR))
(40) SPACE word boundary
Although in principle the word boundary pertains as much to
morphosyntactic segmentation (§2.13.3) as to prosodic
segmentation, it is so much taken tar granted as a feature of any
transcription that it is included here with the other basic
discourse transcription notations. The space character is used
to separate lexical words, as in normal orthographic convention.
A space also separates other word-equivalent (for computer
sorting purposes) symbols, such as punctuation, brackets, etc.
As noted above (§1.3.4), for computational purposes it is useful
to follow consistent conventions in inserting spaces in a
transcription. Therefore, throughout this document we have
commented on where spaces should and should not go.
In the following example, each of the space-delimited strings
is treated computationally as a word, allowing appropriate coding
to be attached to the symbols for speaker code, latching,
backchannel response, pause, audible inhalation, final intonation
contour, etc., if desired.
(40a)
S: (0) Hm=.
.. Hm.
(HH) ...(l.0) O=kay=.
((TRN_AESTH))
39
2.11 Capitalization.
(41) Capital "sentence" beginning
Application of standard literary conventions for
capitalization of word-initial letters -- beyond those governing
proper names,28 which this transcription naturally follows --
presents a problem to the degree that the "sentences" of spoken
discourse, if such units exist, do not neatly correspond to the
sentences of written discourse. Punctuation symbols (period,
comma, etc-) are used to indicate intonation contour, but the
unit which in the spoken discourse transcriptions is delimited
between two period symbols does not often correspond directly to
a standard written sentence. Moreover, the resulting
transcription does not always make for easy reading, to the
extent that the punctuation symbols, given their intonational
value, are not available to effectively cue the reader to any
sentence structure per se. For these reasons, a capital initial
letter is used to indicate the apparent beginning of a new
sentence-like unit: perhaps the start of a new proposition, or a
new speech act.
Unlike in writing, there need not be any absolute correlation
between a period at the end of one line and a capital at the
beginning of the next. In fact, a very common configuration is a
comma (,) or double tilde (--) at the end of the first line
followed by a capital at the beginning of the second. Since the
capital letter is taken to mark empty the beginning of one of
these sentences, and not necessarily the end of the previous one,
there is no need for the previous sentence to have been brought
to a full conclusion. Thus several false-start intonation units
in a row, each beginning (or attempting to begin) the same
sentence, are each written with an initial capital, even if only
the last of the units is ultimately brought to completion as a
full sentence.
It is important to emphasize that since capitalization is not
claimed to mark prosody (already marked by punctuation symbols),
its primary use in the present system is to provide a rough reel
for something of the spoken discourse's sentence unit boundaries
(possibly correlated with conceptual, speech act, or rhetorical
units) , and thus to make the transcription more readable. It
should be kept in mind, however, that the nature or the contrast
signaled by capitalization is not easy to codify precisely.
There is no claim that the capital letters consistently
correspond to a specific acoustic cue in the audio record, nor
that they are even necessarily audible. Neither is any hard and
fast structural or functional analysis intended. In this sense
capitalization is simply a rough display device which is
available for use at the transcriber9s or researcher's
discretion, and should be interpreted in this light.29
40
(41a)
K: (HH) .. But ^he'll recover.
He'll% --.
D: (0) what ^is that.
K: (0) 'He'll be over his leprosy [ ^soo=n 1].
G: [ 'Nothing 1],
it's just 'dry ^ski=n.
K: .. @
G: ... @ There isn't --
It's <@ ^no 'disea=se,
at 'a=11 @>
K: .. 'Athletic feet.
... @N .. 'foot.
D: .. @N .. @'foot.
((TRN_HYPO))
2.12 False start.
(42) <FS words FS> false start
For a widely-known language like English it is probably best
to avoid inserting implicit judgments about correctness and
repair at the transcription level (Edwards 1967). (Such
interpretations are of course commonplace, and fully appropriate,
at the more interpretive and theory-bound level of E.) But
the picture changes when one considers little-known languages. A
linguist who publishes a transcription of a language that is
known by only a few individuals in the world would do a decided
disservice to simply reproduce all the words as spoken, without
any indication of which were considered correct and which were
not, in the eyes of the native speaker. This is, after all, the
kind of speaker knowledge which native speakers of English make
use of without thinking when they read and understand a
transcription in English which does not overtly alert them to the
disfluencies it contains. But in a little-known language, such
knowledge may well be inaccessible to any but the linguist who
published the text and one or more native speakers in a faraway
place.
One solution that has often been adopted is to edit out
disfluencies in the text, in accordance with judgments of a
native speaker. While this kind of edited text is appropriate
for some purposes (e.g. publication of indigenous literature as
the native author would have it presented)1 for serious spoken
discourse research (of the sort that takes account of the process
of discourse production), it is obviously preferable to retain
every word exactly as uttered. If care is taken to indicate, for
the benefit of the non-native speaker, which items are editable,
these readers can then have the best of both worlds -- they can
skip over the (marked) false starts to obtain an edited version,
and include then to better understand the discourse production
process. But it the distinction between false starts and
41
natively ratified material is not indicated, no one who lacks
access to a native speaker can reliably reconstruct this
information.
Thus, while one probably should not specially mark false
starts in a transcription of English discourse, one should do so
in, for example, a language like Xinca or Sacapultec Maya. The
angle bracket notation is made available for this purpose.
(English examples are presented below with this notation just to
illustrate how it would be used.)
(42a)
A: .. < FS He has= FS> --
< FS a% FS> --
The ^spelling is what 'first 'turned me on ^to him.
((TRN_FARN))
(42b)
A: and < FS they% FS> --
.. they% .. ^poked into the%- | .. the ^mou=lding,
along the [ 'side 1].
B: [ unhunh 1],
((TRN_DOOR))
(42c)
G: ...' A=nd,
.. 'you know,
.. < FS 'He= would like FS>,
.. (HH) 'He would like,
^w=alk out on the ^freeway,
and 'try to ^hitchhike,
((TRN_HYPO))
(42d)
J: [ @@@ 2] in 'going out < FS to FS> --
(HH) ... to ^buy the thing.
((TRN_AESTH))
2.13 Reserved symbols.
Some of the symbols that are not used in transcribing need to
be reserved for other important uses. Bookkeeping, phonemic
orthography, and morphosyntactic coding, all call for the use of
some specialized symbols. Each of these domains is addressed
below. In addition, a few symbols are left undefined, free to
accommodate the diverse special needs of users of the system.
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