Intonational meaning in institutional settings: the role of syntagmatic relations

Abstract

This paper addresses the power of intonation to convey interpersonal or attitudinal meaning. Speakers have been shown to accommodate to each other in the course of conversation, and this convergence may be perceived as a sign of empathy. Accommodation often involves paradigmatic choices-choosing the same words, gestures, regional accent or melodic pattern, but this paper suggests that affective meaning can also be conveyed syntagmatically through the relationship between prosodic features in successive utterances. The paper also addresses the use of prosody in situations of conflict, particularly in institutional settings. The requirement of the more powerful participant to exercise control may conflict with the expression of empathy. Situations are described where divergent rather than convergent behaviour is more successful both in keeping control and in maintaining rapport.Roth and Tobin (2009) addresses among others two very important issues from my own field of research-prosody. First, by describing prosodic convergence between speakers and its effect on participants, the findings contribute to the theory of intonational meaning. Second, the description of conflict situations in the classroom raises theoretical questions about the nature of emotion, and has important implications for conflict negotiation in other social situations where there are institutional constraints and demands on participant behaviour.The article describes a longitudinal ethnographic study of teaching and learning in inner-city classrooms, in a situation where experienced teachers are paired with new teachers in classes of students who are disadvantaged, frequently disruptive and generally underachieving. The focus of the article is the observation that, over time, there is a A. Wichmann (&)

Beyond the Particular: Prosody and the Coordination of Actions

“…This analytical focus also differentiates the proposed perspective on prosodic orientation from other work on prosodic convergence outside the framework of accommodation theory. For example, both Roth and Tobin (2010) and Wichmann (2010) link matching prosody to displays of solidarity between speakers; whereas Culpeper, Bousfield and Wichmann (2003) show an association of prosodic non-matching with institutional power relations between traffic wardens and angry drivers.…”

Empatía y convergencia del tono fundamental

“…L a convergencia fonética forma parte de un fenómeno más general que en la literatura ha sido denominado como "entrainment", "alineación", "acomodación", "coordinación" o "convergencia" (Wichmann 2010, Kim y Horton, 2011. Estos términos refieren a un proceso en el cual dos o más hablantes, durante el transcurso de una conversación, se coordinan hasta llegar a "alinearse", es decir, coincidir en alguna dimensión de interés.…”