Breathing in Conversation

Abstract

This work revisits the problem of breathing cues used for management of speaking turns in multiparty casual conversation. We propose a new categorization of turn-taking events which combines the criterion of speaker change with whether the original speaker inhales before producing the next talkspurt. We demonstrate that the latter criterion could be potentially used as a good proxy for pragmatic completeness of the previous utterance (and, by extension, of the interruptive character of the incoming speech). We also present evidence that breath holds are used in reaction to incoming talk rather than as a turn-holding cue. In addition to analysing dimensions which are routinely omitted in studies of interactional functions of breathing (exhalations, presence of overlapping speech, breath holds), the present study also looks at patterns of breath holds in silent breathing and shows that breath holds are sometimes produced toward the beginning (and toward the top) of silent exhalations, potentially indicating an abandoned intention to take the turn. We claim that the breathing signal can thus be successfully used for uncovering hidden turn-taking events, which are otherwise obscured by silence-based representations of interaction.

Multi‐speaker experimental designs: Methodological considerations

“…Measuring respiration involved in human interaction is relatively easy to carry out in comparison to other physiological techniques that require intensive preparation. There are more and more studies using this technique in dual‐ or multiple‐speaker designs (Bailly et al., 2013; Fuchs & Rathcke, 2018; Ishii et al., 2014; McFarland, 2001; McFarland et al., 2020; Müller & Lindenberger, 2011; Rochet‐Capellan & Fuchs, 2014; Torreira et al., 2015; Warner et al., 1983; Włodarczak et al., 2015; Włodarczak & Heldner, 2020).…”

Speech breathing: variable but individual over time and according to limb movements

“…Previous work shows that breathing adapts to dialogue constraints and, in particular, to the turn-taking process (Refs. [23][24][25] but did not find overall coordination of breathing (Refs. 23 and 24) except in synchronous reading.…”

“…[17][18][19][20] Speech breathing is also influenced by changes in loudness or voice quality, 21,22 as well as interactive constraints, such as turn-taking in dialogue. [23][24][25] Different studies have investigated the link between body type and speech breathing. 26,27 Links between lung capacity and utterance length have been found in developmental studies (Ref.…”

Effects of verbal tasks with varying difficulty on real-time respiratory airflow during speech generation in healthy young adults

“…The unique characteristic of breathing in adapting to environmental constraints and being influenced by the contexts sets a challenge to the experimental design. Earlier studies assessing respiration during reading vs. spontaneous speech have used a plethora of instrumentations to measure respiration, ranging from inductance plethysmography, video recording, and modern pneumotachographs (Rothenberg mask) (e.g., Wang et al, 2010 ; Wlodarczak and Heldner, 2020 ). In addition, other issues arise due to the type of verbal tasks employed.…”