SPOKEN DISCOURSE and NATURAL GRAMMAR

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SPOKEN DISCOURSE and NATURAL GRAMMAR

• Andrej A. Kibrik (kibrik_at_comtv.ru)

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Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter
Vera Podlesskaya
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Context

• Project Night Dream Stories
• Corpus of 130 Russian spoken stories
• Speakers children of school age and adolescents
• Discourse type narrative
• Important spoken Russian language
• Unimportant age of speakers and content of
  stories

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Research questions

• Linguists ideas of what language is like are
  largely shaped by written language
• Speech is the primary form of language
• in phylogeny
• in ontogeny
• in quantity
• A logical would-be approach start with the
  primary, simpler phenomenon, and thereafter
  examine how it adapts to the secondary medium
• A practical approach take spoken language as
  is and see what emerges, and how it is different
  from or similar to the extant views of language
• What the grammar of spoken Russian is like?

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Plan of talk

• Discourse transcription
• Elementary discourse units (EDUs)
• Two issues in the grammar of spoken Russian
• How EDUs correspond to grammatical units
• Sentence?
• Suggestions for less studied and unwritten
  languages

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Transcription of spoken discourse

• Due to its transient, ephemeral nature, sound as
  such does not lend itself easily to scientific
  analysis
• Discourse transcription convert the sound into a
  graphic representation
• Well-developed for English, Italian
• We are doing it for Russian
• This conversion involves dozens of decisions
• Transcription must be systematic and reproducible
• Not just a set of conventions but a process
  through which essential properties of spoken
  language are revealed

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Main components of our discourse transcription

• Segmentation (lines)
• Pauses
• Pitch accents
• Tempo (of different scope)
• A number of other prosodic phenomena
• Punctuation marks
• and some others

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Example

• ....(1.5) /\????? ...(0.5) ?????-??,
• Lake some
• ..(0.3) (??? /\?????,
• Either river
• ??? /\?????,
• or lake
• ?? ??-????? \?????,
• but I guess lake
• ?????? ??? ..(0.2) ???-??-?w
  because somehow...(0.6) \????????? ?????,
• small such
• \?????????.)
• minor
• ....(1.0) ?-?h ...(0.7) ????? /???? and ac
  ross it..(0.3) ???-?? \?????? ?????-??,
• somehow log some
• ???? \?????.
• like bridge

• ....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,
• ..(0.3) (Ili /\recka,
• ili /\ozero,
• no po-moemu \ozero,
• potomu cto ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...(0.6)
  \malenkoe takoe,
• \neboloe.)
• ....(1.0) i-iH ...(0.7) cerez /nego ..(0.3)
  kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,
• tipa \mosta.

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Segmentation (lines)

• ....(1.5) /\????? ...(0.5) ?????-??,
• Lake some
• ..(0.3) (??? /\?????,
• Either river
• ??? /\?????,
• or lake
• ?? ??-????? \?????,
• but I guess lake
• ?????? ??? ..(0.2) ???-??-?w
  because somehow...(0.6) \????????? ?????,
• small such
• \?????????.)
• minor
• ....(1.0) ?-?h ...(0.7) ????? /???? and ac
  ross it..(0.3) ???-?? \?????? ?????-??,
• somehow log some
• ???? \?????.
• like bridge

• ....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,
• ..(0.3) (Ili /\recka,
• ili /\ozero,
• no po-moemu \ozero,
• potomu cto ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...(0.6)
  \malenkoe takoe,
• \neboloe.)
• ....(1.0) i-iH ...(0.7) cerez /nego ..(0.3)
  kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,
• tipa \mosta.

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Pauses

• ....(1.5) /\????? ...(0.5) ?????-??,
• Lake some
• ..(0.3) (??? /\?????,
• Either river
• ??? /\?????,
• or lake
• ?? ??-????? \?????,
• but I guess lake
• ?????? ??? ..(0.2) ???-??-?w
  because somehow...(0.6) \????????? ?????,
• small such
• \?????????.)
• minor
• ....(1.0) ?-?h ...(0.7) ????? /???? and ac
  ross it..(0.3) ???-?? \?????? ?????-??,
• somehow log some
• ???? \?????.
• like bridge

• ....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,
• ..(0.3) (Ili /\recka,
• ili /\ozero,
• no po-moemu \ozero,
• potomu cto ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...(0.6)
  \malenkoe takoe,
• \neboloe.)
• ....(1.0) i-iH ...(0.7) cerez /nego ..(0.3)
  kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,
• tipa \mosta.

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Pitch accents

• ....(1.5) /\????? ...(0.5) ?????-??,
• Lake some
• ..(0.3) (??? /\?????,
• Either river
• ??? /\?????,
• or lake
• ?? ??-????? \?????,
• but I guess lake
• ?????? ??? ..(0.2) ???-??-?w
  because somehow...(0.6) \????????? ?????,
• small such
• \?????????.)
• minor
• ....(1.0) ?-?h ...(0.7) ????? /???? and ac
  ross it..(0.3) ???-?? \?????? ?????-??,
• somehow log some
• ???? \?????.
• like bridge

• ....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,
• ..(0.3) (Ili /\recka,
• ili /\ozero,
• no po-moemu \ozero,
• potomu cto ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...(0.6)
  \malenkoe takoe,
• \neboloe.)
• ....(1.0) i-iH ...(0.7) cerez /nego ..(0.3)
  kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,
• tipa \mosta.

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Tempo

• ....(1.5) /\????? ...(0.5) ?????-??,
• Lake some
• ..(0.3) (??? /\?????,
• Either river
• ??? /\?????,
• or lake
• ?? ??-????? \?????,
• but I guess lake
• ?????? ??? ..(0.2) ???-??-?w
  because somehow...(0.6) \????????? ?????,
• small such
• \?????????.)
• minor
• ....(1.0) ?-?h ...(0.7) ????? /???? and ac
  ross it..(0.3) ???-?? \?????? ?????-??,
• somehow log some
• ???? \?????.
• like bridge

• ....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,
• ..(0.3) (Ili /\recka,
• ili /\ozero,
• no po-moemu \ozero,
• potomu cto ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...(0.6)
  \malenkoe takoe,
• \neboloe.)
• ....(1.0) i-iH ...(0.7) cerez /nego ..(0.3)
  kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,
• tipa \mosta.

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Other prosodic phenomena

• ....(1.5) /\????? ...(0.5) ?????-??,
• Lake some
• ..(0.3) (??? /\?????,
• Either river
• ??? /\?????,
• or lake
• ?? ??-????? \?????,
• but I guess lake
• ?????? ??? ..(0.2) ???-??-?w
  because somehow...(0.6) \????????? ?????,
• small such
• \?????????.)
• minor
• ....(1.0) ?-?h ...(0.7) ????? /???? and ac
  ross it..(0.3) ???-?? \?????? ?????-??,
• somehow log some
• ???? \?????.
• like bridge

• ....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,
• ..(0.3) (Ili /\recka,
• ili /\ozero,
• no po-moemu \ozero,
• potomu cto ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...(0.6)
  \malenkoe takoe,
• \neboloe.)
• ....(1.0) i-iH ...(0.7) cerez /nego ..(0.3)
  kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,
• tipa \mosta.

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Punctuation marks

• ....(1.5) /\????? ...(0.5) ?????-??,
• Lake some
• ..(0.3) (??? /\?????,
• Either river
• ??? /\?????,
• or lake
• ?? ??-????? \?????,
• but I guess lake
• ?????? ??? ..(0.2) ???-??-?w
  because somehow...(0.6) \????????? ?????,
• small such
• \?????????.)
• minor
• ....(1.0) ?-?h ...(0.7) ????? /???? and ac
  ross it..(0.3) ???-?? \?????? ?????-??,
• somehow log some
• ???? \?????.
• like bridge

• ....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,
• ..(0.3) (Ili /\recka,
• ili /\ozero,
• no po-moemu \ozero,
• potomu cto ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...(0.6)
  \malenkoe takoe,
• \neboloe.)
• ....(1.0) i-iH ...(0.7) cerez /nego ..(0.3)
  kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,
• tipa \mosta.

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Segmentation elementary discourse units (EDUs)

• Definition of EDUs prosody
• Pausing pattern
• Single accentual center
• Single tonal pattern (contour)
• Single temporal pattern
• (Single loudness pattern)
• In terms of physiology
• Coincide with an exhalation

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Example

• ..(0.2) /????? ? ???? \??-?????,
• ..(0.2) /Vyla s ètoj \ka-arety,
  I.got.out from this coach,
• ..(0.2) ?????? ? \?-????,
• ..(0.2) zaxou v \ë-olku,
• I.enter into fir.tree

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Prototypical pausing pattern

• ..(0.2) /????? ? ???? \??-?????,
• ..(0.2) /Vyla s ètoj \ka-arety,
  I.got.out from this coach,
• ..(0.2) ?????? ? \?-????,
• ..(0.2) zaxou v \ë-olku,
• I.enter into fir.tree

EDU-initial pauses
No pauses inside EDUs
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Single accentual center in each EDU

• ..(0.2) /????? ? ???? \??-?????,
• ..(0.2) /Vyla s ètoj \ka-arety,
  I.got.out from this coach,
• ..(0.2) ?????? ? \?-????,
• ..(0.2) zaxou v \ë-olku,
• I.enter into fir.tree

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Accentual center prototypical tonal and temporal
patterns
0.1
0.17
0.14
0.25
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Deep neurophysiological foundations of EDUs
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Organization of mice movements while exploring
territory

• Consists of individual segments runs, or spurts
• Spurts are separated by short periods of
  standstill
• Each spurt starts with a period of high
  acceleration
• At the end of a spurt there is a significant
  deceleration
• Each spurt is directed towards a goal that is
  attained at the end

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Content of EDUs

• EDUs appear to be not only prosodic units, but
  display unity in terms of their content
• Cognitively represent one focus of consciousness
  (W. Chafe)
• Semantically represent one event/state
• Grammatically coincide with a clause

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EDUs AND GRAMMATICAL CONSTITUENTS

• Prosodically identified EDUs correlation with
  clauses
• EDU clause 70
• EDU lt clause 23
• EDU gt clause 7

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A sequence of clausal EDUs

• ????? ??? ???? /???,
• Then more one dream
• ....(1.7) ?? ???? ..(0.1) ??????? ????-/???,
• after me was.running Baba-Jaga
• ....(1.3) ?? ?????-? ? ?? ??? /?????,
• in general I from her run
• ...(0.8) ?-? ..(0.4) ?????
• and think
• /???? ?? ??? \?????????.
• Where PTCL I run
• ....(1.1) ?-? ..(0.3) ??? ??? ..(0.2) /???
• And just house ..(0.4) ??-C?
  \??????? ?? ?????-?\????????.
• C.C. Capwell from Santa Barbara
• ?..(0.4) ? /?????? ? ????,
• I run into it
• ? /??? ????? \????.
• and there stands wardrobe

• Potom ece odin /son,
• ....(1.7) za mnoj ..(0.1) ?begala Baba-/Jaga,
• ....(1.3) ?v obcem-m ja ot neë /begu?,
• ...(0.8) i-i ..(0.4) dumaju
• /Kuda e mne \pobeat?.
• ....(1.1) I-i ..(0.3) ??? ??? ..(0.2) /dom
  ..(0.4) Si-Si \Kepvela iz Santa-?\Barbary?.
• ?..(0.4) Ja /vbegaja v nego,
• i /tam stoit \kaf.

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Short EDUs

• Prospective 6.4
• Anticipatory topic 0.7
• False start 5.7
• Retrospective 9
• Echo 3.9
• Increment and parcellation 4.2
• Split 2.5
• Regulatory EDUs 4.9
• TOTAL 23

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Anticipatory topic z34, z43

• ..(0.3) ? /???????,
• ..(0.3) a /sobacka,
• and doggy
• ??? ?????? \??????,
• ona bystro \begala,
• it fast ran
• ? /??,...(0.6)
• a /on,...(0.6)
• and it
• \???????? ?? ??? ???????.
• \polovina ?v nëm tolko?.
• half in it only

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Echo

• Retrospective elaboration to one of the clause
  constituents
• Duplicates the morphosyntactic characteristics of
  the constituent in question

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Echo a typical example

• ?????? ????????? /??????,
• Begala bezdomnaja /sobaka,
• Was.running homeless dog
• ..(0.2) /??????? ????? /?????? \???,
• ..(0.2) /boloj takoj /cërnyj \dog,
• big such black Great.Dane

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Echo elaboration of an anaphoric pronoun

• ? ? ???? ..(0.1) /????-???? ? ????,
• I ja poba ..(0.1) /podo-o?l k nemu,
• And I FST approached to it
• ..(0.3) ?? ? ????? /??????,
• ..(0.3) nu k ètomu /derevu,
• well to this tree
• ? ???????? /???????? ????-??,
• u kotorogo /sverkalo cego-to,
• at which glittered something

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Echo not just nominative

• /\????????,
• /\????????,
• I.open
• ? ?????? ???? ??? /?????? ...(0.7) ????? \???????
  .
• ? ?????? ???? ??? /?????? ...(0.7) ????? \??????
  ?.
• and in.front me so hang seven corpses
• ....(1.1) ???? /?????? \??????????,
• ....(1.1) ???? /?????? \??????????,
• seven corpses of.strung-up (GEN)
• ..(0.3) ?????? \/????????.
• ..(0.3) ?????? \/????????.
• notably Chinese

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Increment

• An extra constituent is appended to an already
  formed clause
• This constituent fits well into the clause
  structure

32
Increment attribute to an actant

• ? /????? ? ??????? ?????-?? ..(0.4) \?-???????.
• I /vdrug ja uvidela kakuju-to
  ..(0.4) \k-korobku.
• And suddenly I saw some box
• ..(0.3) ? /???????? \??????.
• ..(0.3) S /bantikom \sverxu.
• With ribbon on.top

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Increment a circumstant

• /???????,
• /Nyrnula,
• I.dove
• ? \???????.
• i \poplyla.
• and started.swimming
• ...(0.7) ? ??? ??? /??????????,
• ...(0.7) I vot tak /polucilos,
• And this way it.happened
• ? /???????,
• ja /doplyla,
• I reached.by.swimming
• ..(0.4) ??? /?????,
• ..(0.4) pod /vodoj,
• under water

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Long EDUs some sources

• Finite verbs gt epistemic markers
• Finite verbs gt quotative markers
• Verb serialization

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Epistemic marker N14 45

• ...(0.9) ????? ? ..(0.3) /?-??????????,
• ...(0.9) Potom ja ..(0.3) /p-prosypajus,
• Then I wake.up
• ...(0.8) ???-???? ? ?-???? ..(0.2)
  ...(0.8) vsë-taki ja s-sebja ..(0.2)
• still I myself
• ?? \???? ???-?? /???????? ??? ??_
• ne \znaju kak-to /razbudil cto li_
• not know somehow awakened perhaps

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Quotative marker verb of speech Z14

• ??? ??????? ????? /??-??? ???,
• Èto govorjat novaja /mo-oda tam,
• This they.say new fashion there
• ? ????????????? /???? ????? v vosemnadcatom /
  veke novaja
• in eighteenth century new
• ????? \??-??? ?????.
• takaja \mo-oda pola.
• such fashion appeared

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Quotative marker verb of thinking n06

• ? ??? ..(0.1) ???-?? ??? ???? /??????? ???? ??????
  ??,
• I vot ..(0.1) kak-to mne bylo /strano tuda zaxo
  dit,
• And here somehow to.me was scary there enter
  
• ..(0.3) ?????? ??? ????? \?????-?,
• ..(0.3) potomu cto dumaju \upadu-u,
• because I.think I.will.fall.down
• ?-?? \???? ??? ??? \?????,
• n-ne \znaju cto èto \takoe,
• not know what that such
• ..(0.2) \????? ??????,
• ..(0.2) \upadu duma?ju,
• I.will.fall.down I.think

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Serialization N26 113

• ...(0.6) ??? ???????
• ...(0.6) ona govorit
• she says
• /?????? ????? \/????
• /Sadis delaj \/sama
• Sit do yourself

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Serialization verb union N21

• ? ? ??? ??? ???? /???? ? \????????.
• I ja ego pri ètom /stoju i \protiraju.
• And I it with all.that stand and wipe

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Interim summary EDUs and grammar

• Topical issue in the grammar of natural spoken
  discourse
• How units of speech correspond to grammatical
  units?

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THE PROBLEM OF SENTENCE

• Sentence is supposedly a fundamental unit of
  language
• Linguists generally use this notion relying on
  conventions of punctuation in written language
• But there are not obvious periods and question
  marks in speech
• Is sentence real?

42
The canonical situation

• In narrative discourse, there is a difference
  between final and non-final EDUs
• Canonical prosody of a final EDU (period
  intonation) falling tone in the primary accent
• Canonical prosody of a non-final EDU (comma
  intonation) rising tone in the primary accent

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A canonical example z1611-12

• ? ????? ? ??? ...(0.5) ??????????? /?????,
• and kogda ja vot ...(0.5) vozvracajus /domoj,
  and when I well return home
• ?? ???? /??? \????????.
• na ètom /son \koncilsja.
• on that dream ended

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Non-canonical situation Comma with a falling tone

• ....(1.5) /\????? ...(0.5) ?????-??,
• Lake some
• ..(0.3) (??? /\?????,
• Either river
• ??? /\?????,
• or lake
• ?? ??-????? \?????,
• but I guess lake
• ?????? ??? ..(0.2) ???-??-?w
  because somehow...(0.6) \????????? ?????,
• small such
• \?????????.)
• minor
• ....(1.0) ?-?h ...(0.7) ????? /???? and ac
  ross it..(0.3) ???-?? \?????? ?????-??,
• somehow log some
• ???? \?????.
• like bridge

• ....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,
• ..(0.3) (Ili /\recka,
• ili /\ozero,
• no po-moemu \ozero,
• potomu cto ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...(0.6)
  \malenkoe takoe,
• \neboloe.)
• ....(1.0) i-iH ...(0.7) cerez /nego ..(0.3)
  kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,
• tipa \mosta.

45
Systematic difference between two kinds of fall

• Final fall (period) targets at the absolute
  bottom of the speakers F0 range
• Non-final fall (comma) targets at several dozen
  Hz (2 to 5 semitones) higher
• Final fall (period) steady falling on the
  post-accent syllables
• Non-final fall (comma) lack of falling on
  post-accent syllables, often rise of tone (V-bend)

46
F0 graph
12
10
12
8
5
\ozero,
\malenkoe \nebol
\brevno kakoe
\mosta.
takoe,
oe. -to,
47
Clause chaining

• I had a dream,
• that I was in church,
• and I was playing there,
• some game,
• and I have my girl friend there,
• with me,
• in church,
• we are playing some game,
• everybody prays,
• and then there was a very beautiful icon there,
• very-very much so,
• so bright,
• so big,
• I liked it very much,
• and then from the heaven came out the Blessed
  Virgin,
• and Jesus Christ,
• the baby,
• and also God came out.

48
Clause chaining (contd)

• And
• and they were in church,
• and everybody approached them,
• and started stroking,
• the baby on his head,
• and the baby had such a thing,
• the shining one,
• around his head,
• and everbody rejoiced,
• that the baby of Jesus Christ was born.

49
Subordinate clause in a different sentence

• ..(0.4) ? ????? ???? \?????????.
• ..(0.4) a potom menja \razbudili.
• and then me they.awoke.
• ..(0.4) \???????.
• ..(0.4) \Babuka.
• Granny.
• ..(0.3) ?? ???? ? \????? ????.
• ..(0.3) Nu ctob v \kolu idti.
• Well for to school go.

50
Sentence?

• In spoken discourse, it is possible to identify
  groups of EDUs that can count as sentences
• Sentence boundaries are identified prosodically
  rather than syntactically
• Sentences often contain dozens of EDUs and
  coincide with whole episodes or even whole
  stories
• On the other hand, a subordinate clause often
  appears in a different sentence than the main
  clause
• Speakers evidently enjoy a significant freedom in
  how they combine clauses into a sentence
• Generally, sentence is a far less obvious, less
  basic, and much harder identifiable unit of
  language than an EDU (or clause)

51
Russian as an exotic language

• Numerous phenomena, usually attributed in
  typology to certain exotic languages, are
  attested in spoken Russian (and some of them with
  high frequency)
• anticipatory topic
• echo
• increment
• epistemic markers
• quotative markers
• serialization
• clause chaining

52
At the same time

• Many supposedly prominent elements of Russian
  grammar are not used
• participles
• converbs
• deverbal nouns

53
Some conclusions

• The process of transcribing spoken discourse
  reveals important properties of a languages
  grammar
• Without such excercise many grammatical phenomena
  may remain unnoticed
• While other phenomena can be overemphasized
• If one looks at the most basic form of language
  use, that is, spoken discourse,
• and uses frequency as a criterion of a
  phenomenons significance,
• then one can get a realistic assessment of what
  is important in a languages grammar
• This is what can be called natural grammar
• Prosody is extremely important the amount of
  information it conveys is comparable to the
  lexico-grammatical information

54
Implications for less studied, newly written or
unwritten languages?

• Linguists are often the first to create texts
  in such languages
• Sound recording, then transcribing
• Input undergoes significant modification
• many elements are not represented (prosody,
  pauses, hesitations, false starts)
• important elements are added (notably punctuation
  marks)
• If this is not done systematically, the
  ontological status of the resulting object is far
  from clear
• It serves, however, as the basis for further
  conclusions about the languages grammar

55
Suggestions

• Develop explicit discourse transcription for a
  language under investigation
• This is no less important than for big
  languages with a tradition of literacy
• It is possible to rely on the conventions already
  developed for big languages
• Discourse transcription is a flexible tool, and
  every linguist can use the degree of detail that
  matches his/her goals

56
Experience with other languages

• Pulaar, Atlantic (Andrej Kibrik)
• Kuwait dialect of Arabic (Vera Cukanova)
• Eastern Armenian (Viktorija Xurshudjan)

57
Pulaar discourse transcription

• Genre griots saga
• Semi-improvisation
• Accompanied by playing a hoddu a string
  instrument

58
West African griots
59
Example

• (8.3) omo jogii sehil,
• ko mbiyeten sehil,
• neââo dingiral.
• (1.5) nde âum woodnoo,
• (0.9) tuggude e karaas amen fay dow,
• (0.4) ndeen (0.3) neââo na wona neââo maa,
• (0.3) ? ngonon yeewtidiièe dingiral
• ? haa suddee
• tawi hay huunde alaa âon
• so wonaa tawa ko denâe èii kaawmaa walla èii
  yummaa.

• She had a friend,
• what we call a friend
• a person of youths meetings at the village
  square.
• This has been like that for ages,
• beginning from our generation and through the
  youngest one,
• a person becomes your person,
• so that your are co-participants of meetings in
  the village square,
• until one is covered by a veil (that is, till one
  marries),
• and then there is nothing between the two of you,
• unless it happens that thats a cousin on ones
  mother side

60
Segmentation

• (8.3) omo jogii sehil,
• ko mbiyeten sehil,
• neââo dingiral.
• (1.5) nde âum woodnoo,
• (0.9) tuggude e karaas amen fay dow,
• (0.4) ndeen (0.3) neââo na wona neââo maa,
• (0.3) ? ngonon yeewtidiièe dingiral
• ? haa suddee
• tawi hay huunde alaa âon
• so wonaa tawa ko denâe èii kaawmaa walla èii
  yummaa.

• She had a friend,
• what we call a friend
• a person of youths meetings at the village
  square.
• This has been like that for ages,
• beginning from our generation and through the
  youngest one,
• a person becomes your person,
• so that your are co-participants of meetings in
  the village square,
• until one is covered by a veil (that is, till one
  marries),
• and then there is nothing between the two of you,
• unless it happens that thats a cousin on ones
  mother side

61
Pauses

• (8.3) omo jogii sehil,
• ko mbiyeten sehil,
• neââo dingiral.
• (1.5) nde âum woodnoo,
• (0.9) tuggude e karaas amen fay dow,
• (0.4) ndeen (0.3) neââo na wona neââo maa,
• (0.3) ? ngonon yeewtidiièe dingiral
• ? haa suddee
• tawi hay huunde alaa âon
• so wonaa tawa ko denâe èii kaawmaa walla èii
  yummaa.

• She had a friend,
• what we call a friend
• a person of youths meetings at the village
  square.
• This has been like that for ages,
• beginning from our generation and through the
  youngest one,
• a person becomes your person,
• so that your are co-participants of meetings in
  the village square,
• until one is covered by a veil (that is, till one
  marries),
• and then there is nothing between the two of you,
• unless it happens that thats a cousin on ones
  mother side

62
Various prosodic features

• (8.3) omo jogii sehil,
• ko mbiyeten sehil,
• neââo dingiral.
• (1.5) nde âum woodnoo,
• (0.9) tuggude e karaas amen fay dow,
• (0.4) ndeen (0.3) neââo na wona neââo maa,
• (0.3) ? ngonon yeewtidiièe dingiral
• ? haa suddee
• tawi hay huunde alaa âon
• so wonaa tawa ko denâe èii kaawmaa walla èii
  yummaa.

• She had a friend,
• what we call a friend
• a person of youths meetings at the village
  square.
• This has been like that for ages,
• beginning from our generation and through the
  youngest one,
• a person becomes your person,
• so that your are co-participants of meetings in
  the village square,
• until one is covered by a veil (that is, till one
  marries),
• and then there is nothing between the two of you,
• unless it happens that thats a cousin on ones
  mother side

63
Punctuation

• (8.3) omo jogii sehil,
• ko mbiyeten sehil,
• neââo dingiral.
• (1.5) nde âum woodnoo,
• (0.9) tuggude e karaas amen fay dow,
• (0.4) ndeen (0.3) neââo na wona neââo maa,
• (0.3) ? ngonon yeewtidiièe dingiral
• ? haa suddee
• tawi hay huunde alaa âon
• so wonaa tawa ko denâe èii kaawmaa walla èii
  yummaa.

• She had a friend,
• what we call a friend
• a person of youths meetings at the village
  square.
• This has been like that for ages,
• beginning from our generation and through the
  youngest one,
• a person becomes your person,
• so that your are co-participants of meetings in
  the village square,
• until one is covered by a veil (that is, till one
  marries),
• and then there is nothing between the two of you,
• unless it happens that thats a cousin on ones
  mother side

64
Canonical, short, and long EDUs

• (8.3) omo jogii sehil,
• ko mbiyeten sehil,
• neââo dingiral.
• (1.5) nde âum woodnoo,
• (0.9) tuggude e karaas amen fay dow,
• (0.4) ndeen (0.3) neââo na wona neââo maa,
• (0.3) ? ngonon yeewtidiièe dingiral
• ? haa suddee
• tawi hay huunde alaa âon
• so wonaa tawa ko denâe èii kaawmaa walla èii
  yummaa.

• She had a friend,
• what we call a friend
• a person of youths meetings at the village
  square.
• This has been like that for ages,
• beginning from our generation and through the
  youngest one,
• a person becomes your person,
• so that your are co-participants of meetings in
  the village square,
• until one is covered by a veil (that is, till one
  marries),
• and then there is nothing between the two of you,
• unless it happens that thats a cousin on ones
  mother side

65
Conclusion

• Basic phenomena are same or comparable
• There are specific differences basis for future
  typological research
• Focusing on spoken language and prosody really
  affects a linguist's understanding of what is
  important in grammar and what grammar is about
• Languages with a tradition of literacy, and
  strong emphasis on their written form, appear
  very different if looked at in their oral form
• For the languages with a lesser or no tradition
  of literacy, it is not less important to pay
  attention to a systematic representation of their
  sound shape, especially prosody

66
Final word

• ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ????,
• ?? ??????????? ???? ??????
• You need not be a poet,
• But a citizen that you must be
• (N. Nekrasov)
• ?????????? ?????? ?? ?? ????,
• ?? ?????????? ???? ??????
• You need not be a linguist,
• But a phonetician that you must be