Roller coaster: Distinctive prosodic cuing of turns preempting rejection resistance

TY - JOUR

T1 - Roller coaster

T2 - Distinctive prosodic cuing of turns preempting rejection resistance

AU - Nielsen, Mie Femø

AU - Morris, David Jackson

PY - 2019/3

Y1 - 2019/3

N2 - This paper explores the linkage between intonation nested in conversation turns where the speaker is introducing something delicate (e.g., presenting information liable to provoke distancing) or pre-empting resistance to their proposal when there is a strong risk of rejection. These movements, which appear prosodically marked, deviate not only from the local context of the conversation, but from the conversation as a whole. A speech acoustic analysis of three examples of prosodic signalling within these turns suggests that speakers employ a distinct design and delivery which includes a high terminal peak in the intonation contour. We interpret this signalling to represent responsive and resistant local social actions in a rejection implicative sequential environment. Finally, they show evidence of being pre-planned and important to the speaker.

AB - This paper explores the linkage between intonation nested in conversation turns where the speaker is introducing something delicate (e.g., presenting information liable to provoke distancing) or pre-empting resistance to their proposal when there is a strong risk of rejection. These movements, which appear prosodically marked, deviate not only from the local context of the conversation, but from the conversation as a whole. A speech acoustic analysis of three examples of prosodic signalling within these turns suggests that speakers employ a distinct design and delivery which includes a high terminal peak in the intonation contour. We interpret this signalling to represent responsive and resistant local social actions in a rejection implicative sequential environment. Finally, they show evidence of being pre-planned and important to the speaker.

KW - Intonation

KW - politeness

KW - preempting

KW - prosody

KW - rejection

KW - resistance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054906354&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/ijal.12232

DO - 10.1111/ijal.12232

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85054906354

SN - 0802-6106

JO - International Journal of Applied Linguistics (United Kingdom)

JF - International Journal of Applied Linguistics (United Kingdom)

ER -