SPOKEN DISCOURSE and NATURAL GRAMMAR Andrej A Kibrik

SPOKEN DISCOURSE and NATURAL GRAMMAR Andrej A. Kibrik (kibrik@comtv. ru)

Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter Vera Podlesskaya 2

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 3

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? 4

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 5

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 6

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 7

Other prosodic phenomena § . . (1. 5) то, /Озеро. . . (0. 5) § . . (0. 3) (Или § или /озеро, lake § § or но but какое. Lake some /речка, Either river по-моему озеро, I guess lake потому что’. . (0. 2) как-то-оw because somehow. . . (0. 6) маленькое такое, small such небольшое. ) minor. . (1. 0) ’и-иh. . . (0. 7) через /него § . . (1. 5) /Ozero. . . (0. 5) kakoe-to, § . . (0. 3) (Ili /rečka, § ili /ozero, § no po-moemu ozero, § potomu čto’. . (0. 2) kak-to-o. W. . . (0. 6) malen’koe takoe, § nebol’šoe. ) § . . (1. 0) ’i-i. H. . . (0. 7) čerez /nego. . (0. 3) kak-to brevno kakoe-to, 13

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 15

Example §. . (0. 2) /Вышла /Vyšla I. got. out с этой s ètoj from this §. . (0. 2) захожу zaxožu I. enter в v into . . (0. 2) ка-ареты, ka-arety, coach, –ё-олку, –ë-olku, fir. tree 16

Prototypical pausing pattern §. . (0. 2) /Вышла /Vyšla I. got. out с этой s ètoj from this §. . (0. 2) захожу zaxožu I. enter в v into . . (0. 2) EDU-initial pauses ка-ареты, ka-arety, coach, –ё-олку, –ë-olku, fir. tree No pauses inside EDUs 17

Single accentual center in each EDU §. . (0. 2) /Вышла /Vyšla I. got. out с этой s ètoj from this §. . (0. 2) захожу zaxožu I. enter в v into . . (0. 2) ка-ареты, ka-arety, coach, –ё-олку, –ë-olku, fir. tree 18

Accentual center; prototypical tonal and temporal patterns 0. 17 0. 14 0. 25 19

Deep neurophysiological foundations of EDUs 20

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 21

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 22

EDUs AND GRAMMATICAL CONSTITUENTS § Prosodically identified EDUs: correlation with clauses § EDU = clause § EDU < clause § EDU > clause 70% 23% 7% 23

§ § § A sequence of clausal EDUs Потом Then more. . (1. 7) за Баба-/Яга, ещё один one dream мной. . (0. 1) /сон, § Potom ešče odin /son, бегала § . . (1. 7) za mnoj. . (0. 1) begala Baba-/Jaga, . . (1. 3) v obščem-m ja ot neë /begu , . . . (0. 8) i-i. . (0. 4) ’ dumaju after me was. running Baba-Jaga. . (1. 3) в общем-м я неё /бегу , in general I from her run. . . (0. 8) и-и. . (0. 4) ’ думаю and think «/Куда же мне побежать? » . Where PTCL I run. . (1. 1) И-и ’. . (0. 3) как раз. . (0. 2) /дом And just house § от § § § «/Kuda že mne pobežat’? » . . . (1. 1) I-i ’. . (0. 3) как раз. . (0. 2) /dom. . (0. 4) ’ Si-Si Kepvela iz Santa Barbary. . . (0. 4) Ja /vbegaja v nego, i /tam stoit škaf. 24

Short EDUs § Prospective 6. 4% § Anticipatory topic § False start § Retrospective § Echo § Increment and parcellation § Split § Regulatory EDUs § TOTAL 0. 7% 5. 7% 9% 3. 9% 4. 2% 2. 5% 4. 9% 23% 25

Anticipatory topic z 34, z 43 Ø. . (0. 3) § а a /собачка, . . (0. 3) /sobačka, and doggy она быстро бегала, ona bystro begala, it fast ran Øа § /он, . . . (0. 6) a /on, . . . (0. 6) and it половина в polovina v half нём nëm in только. tol’ko. it only 26

Echo § Retrospective elaboration to one of the clause constituents § Duplicates the morphosyntactic characteristics of the constituent in question 27

Echo: a typical example § Бегала Begala Was. running бездомная /собака, bezdomnaja /sobaka, homeless dog Ø. . (0. 2) /большой дог, . . (0. 2) /bol’šoj dog, такой /чёрный takoj /čërnyj big black such Great. Dane 28

Echo: elaboration of an anaphoric pronoun §И я поба= ||. . (0. 1) /подо-ошёл к нему, I ja poba= ||. . (0. 1) /podo-ošёl k nemu, And I FST approached to it Ø. . (0. 3) ну к этому /дереву, . . (0. 3) nu k ètomu /derevu, well to this tree § у которого /сверкало чего-то, 29 u kotorogo /sverkalo čego-to,

Increment § An extra constituent is appended to an already formed clause § This constituent fits well into the clause structure 31

Increment: attribute to an actant § И /вдругя к-коробку. I /vdrugja k-korobku. And suddenly I box Ø. . (0. 3) увидела какую-то. . (0. 4) uvidela kakuju-to. . (0. 4) saw some С S With /бантиком /bantikom ribbon сверху. sverxu. on. top 32

Increment: a circumstant § /Нырнула, /Nyrnula, I. dove § и поплыла. i poplyla. and started. swimming §. . . (0. 7) И вот /получилось, . . . (0. 7) I vot /polučilos’, And this § я /доплыла, ja /doplyla, I reached. by. swimming Ø. . (0. 4) под /водой, . . (0. 4) pod /vodoj, так tak way it. happened 33

Long EDUs: some sources § Finite verbs > epistemic markers § Finite verbs > quotative markers § Verb serialization 34

Quotative marker: verb of speech Z 14 § § Это говорят новая /мо-ода Èto govorjat novaja /mo-oda там, tam, This they. say new fashion there в восемнадцатом /веке новая v vosemnadcatom /veke novaja ineighteenth century new такая –мо-ода пошла. 36

§ § Quotative marker: verb of thinking n 06 И вот. . (0. 1) как-то мне было /страшно туда заходить, I vot. . (0. 1) kak-to mne bylo /strašno tuda zaxodit’, And here somehow to. me was scary there enter. . (0. 3) потому что думаюупаду-у, . . (0. 3) potomu čto dumaju upadu-u, because I. think I. will. fall. down н-не знаю что это такое, n-ne znaju čto èto takoe, not know what that such 37. . (0. 2) упаду дума↑ю,

Serialization § . . . (0. 6) § «/Садись «/Sadis’ Sit yourself N 26: 113 она говорит ona govorit she says делай /сама¡ delaj /sama¡ do 38

Serialization: verb union N 21 § И я его при этом /стою протираю. I ja ego pri ètom /stojui protiraju. And I it with all. that stand wipe и 39

Interim summary: EDUs and grammar § Topical issue in the grammar of natural spoken discourse: § How units of speech correspond to grammatical units? 40

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? 41

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 42

A canonical example z 16: 11 -12 §и когдая /домой, and kogda /domoj, and return § на этом na ètom on that вот. . . (0. 5) возвращаюсь ja vot. . . (0. 5) vozvraščajus’ when I well home /сон кончился. /son končilsja. dreamended 43

Non-canonical situation: Comma with a falling tone § . . (1. 5) то, /Озеро. . . (0. 5) § . . (0. 3) (Или § или /озеро, lake § § or но but какое. Lake some /речка, Either river по-моему озеро, I guess lake потому что’. . (0. 2) как-то-оw because somehow. . . (0. 6) маленькое такое, small such небольшое. ) minor. . (1. 0) ’и-иh. . . (0. 7) через /него § . . (1. 5) /Ozero. . . (0. 5) kakoe-to, § . . (0. 3) (Ili /rečka, § ili /ozero, § no po-moemu ozero, § potomu čto’. . (0. 2) kak-to-o. W. . . (0. 6) malen’koe takoe, § nebol’šoe. ) § . . (1. 0) ’i-i. H. . . (0. 7) čerez /nego. . (0. 3) kak-to brevno kakoe-to, 44

Systematic difference between two kinds of fall § Final fall (period): targets at the absolute § bottom of the speaker’s F 0 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 postaccent syllables, often rise of tone (V-bend) 45

F 0 graph 12 10 12 8 5 ozero, malen’koe nebol’ takoe, šoe. brevno kakoe mosta. -to, 46

Clause chaining 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 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. 47

Clause chaining (cont’d) And— 2. and they were in church, 3. and everybody approached them, 4. and started stroking, 5. the baby on his head, 6. and the baby had such a thing, 7. the shining one, 8. around his head, 9. and everbody rejoiced, 10. that the baby of Jesus Christ was born. 1. 48

Subordinate clause in a different sentence §. . (0. 4) а разбудили. . . (0. 4) a razbudili. § § they. awoke. . . (0. 4) Бабушка. . . (0. 4) Babuška. §. . (0. 3) Ну Nu потом меня potom menja and then Granny. чтоб в школу čtob v školu Well for to me идти. idti. school 49

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) 50

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 …………… 51

At the same time § Many supposedly prominent elements of Russian grammar are not used: § participles § converbs § deverbal nouns 52

Some conclusions § § § § The process of transcribing spoken discourse reveals important properties of a language’s 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 phenomenon’s significance, then one can get a realistic assessment of what is important in a language’s 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 53

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 language’s grammar 54

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 55

Experience with other languages § Pulaar, Atlantic (Andrej Kibrik) § Kuwait dialect of Arabic (Vera Cukanova) § Eastern Armenian (Viktorija Xurshudjan) 56

Pulaar discourse transcription § Genre: griot’s saga § Semi-improvisation § Accompanied by playing a hoddu – a string instrument 57

West African griots 58

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 § § § § § She had a friend, what we call a friend — a person of youth’s 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’s a cousin 59 on one’s mother side

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 § § § § § She had a friend, what we call a friend — a person of youth’s 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’s a cousin 60 on one’s mother side

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 § § § § § She had a friend, what we call a friend — a person of youth’s 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’s a cousin 61 on one’s mother side

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 § § § § § She had a friend, what we call a friend — a person of youth’s 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’s a cousin 62 on one’s mother side

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 § § § § § She had a friend, what we call a friend — a person of youth’s 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’s a cousin 63 on one’s mother side

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 § § § § § She had a friend, what we call a friend — a person of youth’s 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’s a cousin 64 on one’s mother side

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 65