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

SPOKEN DISCOURSE

and NATURAL GRAMMAR

Andrej A. Kibrik (kibrik@comtv.ru)

Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter

VeraPodlesskay

Context

Project “Night Dream Stories”Corpus of 130 Russian spoken stories Speakers: children of school age and

adolescentsDiscourse type: narrative Important: spoken Russian languageUnimportant: age of speakers and

content of stories

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?

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

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

Main components of our discourse transcription

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

Example ....(1.5) /\Озеро ...(0.5) какое-то,

Lake some ..(0.3) (Или /\речка,

Either river или /\озеро,

or lake но по-моему \озеро,

but 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

and across it..(0.3) как-то \бревно какое-то,

somehow log some типа \моста.

like bridge

....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,

..(0.3) (Ili /\rečka,

ili /\ozero,

no po-moemu \ozero,

potomu čto’ ..(0.2) kak-to-oW ...

(0.6) \malen’koe takoe,

\nebol’šoe.)

....(1.0) ’i-iH ...(0.7) čerez /nego ..

(0.3) kak-to \brevno kakoe-to,

tipa \mosta.

Segmentation (lines) ....(1.5) /\Озеро ...(0.5) какое-то,

like bridge

....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,

..(0.3) (Ili /\rečka,

ili /\ozero,

no po-moemu \ozero,

\nebol’šoe.)

....(1.0) ’i-iH ...(0.7) čerez /nego ..

tipa \mosta.

Pauses ....(1.5) /\Озеро ...(0.5) какое-то,

like bridge

....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,

..(0.3) (Ili /\rečka,

ili /\ozero,

no po-moemu \ozero,

\nebol’šoe.)

....(1.0) ’i-iH ...(0.7) čerez /nego ..

tipa \mosta.

Pitch accents ....(1.5) /\Озеро ...(0.5) какое-то,

like bridge

....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,

..(0.3) (Ili /\rečka,

ili /\ozero,

no po-moemu \ozero,

\nebol’šoe.)

....(1.0) ’i-iH ...(0.7) čerez /nego ..

tipa \mosta.

Tempo ....(1.5) /\Озеро ...(0.5) какое-то,

like bridge

....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,

..(0.3) (Ili /\rečka,

ili /\ozero,

no po-moemu \ozero,

\nebol’šoe.)

....(1.0) ’i-iH ...(0.7) čerez /nego ..

tipa \mosta.

Other prosodic phenomena ....(1.5) /\Озеро ...(0.5) какое-то,

like bridge

....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,

..(0.3) (Ili /\rečka,

ili /\ozero,

no po-moemu \ozero,

\nebol’šoe.)

....(1.0) ’i-iH ...(0.7) čerez /nego ..

tipa \mosta.

Punctuation marks ....(1.5) /\Озеро ...(0.5) какое-то,

like bridge

....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,

..(0.3) (Ili /\rečka,

ili /\ozero,

no po-moemu \ozero,

\nebol’šoe.)

....(1.0) ’i-iH ...(0.7) čerez /nego ..

tipa \mosta.

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

Example

..(0.2) /Вышла с этой \ка-ареты,..(0.2) /Vyšla s ètoj \ka-arety,

I.got.out from this coach,

..(0.2) захожу в –\ё-олку,..(0.2) zaxožu v –\ë-olku,

I.enter into fir.tree

Prototypical pausing pattern

EDU-initial pauses

No pauses inside EDUs

Single accentual center in each EDU

Accentual center; prototypical tonal and temporal patterns

0.1 0.17 0.14 0.25

Deep neurophysiological foundations of EDUs

Linear acceleration

80 160 240 320 400 480

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

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

EDUs AND GRAMMATICAL CONSTITUENTS

Prosodically identified EDUs: correlation with clauses

EDU = clause 70% EDU < clause 23% EDU > clause 7%

A sequence of clausal EDUs Потом ещё один /сон,

Then more one dream ....(1.7) за мной ..(0.1) бегала Баба-/Яга,

after me was.running Baba-Jaga

....(1.3) в общем-м я от неё /бегу, in general I from her run

...(0.8) и-и ..(0.4) ’ думаюand think

«/Куда же мне \побежать?».Where PTCL I run

....(1.1) И-и ’ ..(0.3) как раз ..(0.2) /домAnd just house

..(0.4) ’ Си-Cи \Кэпвела из Санта-\Барбары.

C.C. Capwell from Santa Barbara ..(0.4) Я /вбегаю в него,

I run into it и /там стоит \шкаф.

and there stands wardrobe

Potom ešče odin /son,

....(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

«/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.

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%

Anticipatory topic z34, z43

..(0.3) а /собачка,..(0.3) a /sobačka,

and doggy она быстро \бегала,

ona bystro \begala,it fast ran

а /он,...(0.6)a /on,...(0.6)and it

\половина в нём только.\polovina v nëm tol’ko.half in it only

Retrospective elaboration to one of the clause constituents

Duplicates the morphosyntactic characteristics of the constituent in question

Echo: a typical example

Бегала бездомная/собака,Begala bezdomnaja /sobaka,Was.running homeless dog

..(0.2) /большой такой /чёрный \дог,..(0.2) /bol’šoj takoj /čërnyj \dog,

big such blackGreat.Dane

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

..(0.3) ну к этому /дереву,..(0.3) nu k ètomu /derevu,

well to this tree у которого /сверкало чего-то,

u kotorogo /sverkalo čego-to,at which glittered something

Echo: not just nominative

/\открываю,/\открываю,I.open

и передомной так /висят ...(0.7)семь \–трупов.и передомной так /висят ...(0.7)семь \–трупов.and in.front me so hang seven corpses

....(1.1) Семь /трупов \повешенных,....(1.1) Семь /трупов \повешенных,

seven corpses of.strung-up (GEN)..(0.3) причём\/китайцев.

..(0.3) причём\/китайцев.notably Chinese

Increment

An extra constituent is appended to an already formed clause

This constituent fits well into the clause structure

Increment: attribute to an actant

И /вдруг я увидела какую-то ..(0.4) \к-коробку.I /vdrug ja uvidela kakuju-to ..(0.4) \k-korobku.And suddenly I saw some box

..(0.3) С /бантиком \сверху. ..(0.3) S /bantikom \sverxu.

With ribbon on.top

Increment: a circumstant

/Нырнула,/Nyrnula,I.dove

и \поплыла.i \poplyla.and started.swimming

...(0.7) И вот так /получилось,...(0.7) I vot tak /polučilos’,

And this way it.happened я /доплыла,

ja /doplyla, I reached.by.swimming

..(0.4) под /водой,..(0.4) pod /vodoj,

under water

Long EDUs: some sources

Finite verbs > epistemic markers Finite verbs > quotative markersVerb serialization

Epistemic marker N14: 45

...(0.9) Потом я ..(0.3) /п-просыпаюсь, ...(0.9) Potom ja ..(0.3) /p-prosypajus’,

Then I wake.up ...(0.8) всё-таки я с-себя ..(0.2)

...(0.8) vsë-taki ja s-sebja ..(0.2) still I myself

не \знаю как-то /разбудил что ли_ne \znaju kak-to /razbudil čto li_not know somehow awakened perhaps

Quotative marker: verb of speech Z14

Это говорят новая /мо-ода там,Èto govorjat novaja /mo-oda tam,This they.say new fashion there

в восемнадцатом /веке новая v vosemnadcatom /veke novaja in eighteenth century newтакая –\мо-одапошла. takaja –\mo-oda pošla. such fashion appeared

Quotative marker: verb of thinking n06

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 думаю \упаду-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

..(0.2) \упаду дума↑ю,..(0.2) \upadu duma↑ju,

I.will.fall.down I.think

Serialization N26: 113

...(0.6) онаговорит...(0.6) ona govorit

she says

«/Садись делай \/сама¡«/Sadis’ delaj \/sama¡

Sit do yourself

Serialization: verb union N21

И я его при этом /стою и \протираю.I ja ego pri ètom /stoju i \protiraju.And I it with all.that stand and wipe

Interim summary: EDUs and grammar

Topical issue in the grammar of natural spoken discourse:

How units of speech correspond to grammatical units?

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?

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

A canonical example z16:11-12

и когда я вот ...(0.5) возвращаюсь/домой, and kogda ja vot ...(0.5) vozvraščajus’ /domoj,

and when I well return home

на этом /сон \кончился. na ètom /son \končilsja. on that dream ended

Non-canonical situation: Comma with a falling tone

....(1.5) /\Озеро ...(0.5) какое-то,Lake some

..(0.3) (Или /\речка,Either river

или /\озеро,or lake

но по-моему \озеро,but I guess lake

потому что’ ..(0.2) как-то-оw because somehow...(0.6) \маленькое такое,

like bridge

....(1.5) /\Ozero ...(0.5) kakoe-to,

..(0.3) (Ili /\rečka,

ili /\ozero,

no po-moemu \ozero,

\nebol’šoe.)

....(1.0) ’i-iH ...(0.7) čerez /nego ..

tipa \mosta.

Systematic difference between two kinds of fall

Final fall (period): targets at the absolute bottom of the speaker’s 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)

F0 graph

\ozero, \malen’koe \nebol’ \brevno kakoe \mosta.

takoe, šoe.-to,

12 10 125

Clause chaining1. I had a dream,2. that I was in church,3. and I was playing there,4. some game, 5. and I have my girl friend there,6. with me, 7. in church,8. we are playing some game,9. everybody prays,10. and then there was a very beautiful icon there,11. very-very much so,12. so bright,13. so big,14. I liked it very much,15. and then from the heaven came out the Blessed Virgin,16. and Jesus Christ,17. the baby,18. and also God came out.

Clause chaining (cont’d)

1. 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.

Subordinate clause in a different sentence

..(0.4) а потом меня \разбудили...(0.4) a potom menja \razbudili.

and then me they.awoke. ..(0.4) \Бабушка. ..(0.4) \Babuška.

Granny. ..(0.3) Ну чтоб в \школу идти. ..(0.3) Nu čtobv \školu idti.

Well for to school go.

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)

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…………………………

At the same time

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

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

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

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

Experience with other languages

Pulaar, Atlantic (Andrej Kibrik) Kuwait dialect of Arabic (Vera

Cukanova) Eastern Armenian (Viktorija

Xurshudjan)

Pulaar discourse transcription

Genre: griot’s saga Semi-improvisationAccompanied by playing a hoddu – a

string instrument

West Africangriots

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 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 that’s a cousin

on one’s mother side

Segmentation

Pauses

Various prosodic features

Punctuation

Canonical, short, and long EDUs

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

Final word

Поэтом можешь ты не быть,но гражданином быть обязан“You need not be a poet,

But a citizen – that you must be” (N. Nekrasov)

Лингвистом можешь ты не быть,но фонетистом быть обязан

“You need not be a linguist,But a phonetician – that you must be”

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

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