and NATURAL GRAMMAR SPOKEN DISCOURSE Andrej A. Kibrik (

SPOKEN DISCOURSE
and NATURAL GRAMMAR
Andrej A. Kibrik ([email protected])
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
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.
8
Segmentation (lines)








....(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.
9
Pauses








....(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.
10
Pitch accents








....(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.
11
Tempo








....(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.
12
Other prosodic phenomena








....(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.
13
Punctuation marks








....(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.
14
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)
..(0.2)
 ..(0.2)
..(0.2)
/Вышла
/Vyšla
I.got.out
с
этой
s
ètoj
from this
захожу
zaxožu
I.enter
в
v
into
\ка-ареты,
\ka-arety,
coach,
–\ё-олку,
–\ë-olku,
fir.tree
16
Prototypical pausing pattern
 ..(0.2)
..(0.2)
 ..(0.2)
..(0.2)
/Вышла
/Vyšla
I.got.out
с
этой
s
ètoj
from this
захожу
zaxožu
I.enter
в
v
into
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)
..(0.2)
 ..(0.2)
..(0.2)
/Вышла
/Vyšla
I.got.out
с
этой
s
ètoj
from this
захожу
zaxožu
I.enter
в
v
into
\ка-ареты,
\ka-arety,
coach,
–\ё-олку,
–\ë-olku,
fir.tree
18
Accentual center; prototypical
tonal and temporal patterns
0.1
0.17
0.14
0.25
19
Deep neurophysiological
foundations of EDUs
Linear acceleration
450
360
start
270
180
"
1.1
90
-1.1
80
160
240
320
400
480
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
....(1.7)
ещё один /сон,
more one dream
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) ’ 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
..(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.
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 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
\polovina v nëm
half
in it
только.
tol’ko.
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
бездомная /собака,
Begala
bezdomnaja /sobaka,
Was.running homeless
dog
..(0.2) /большой
..(0.2) /bol’šoj
big
такой /чёрный \дог,
takoj /čërnyj
\dog,
such
black
Great.Dane
28
Echo: elaboration of an
anaphoric pronoun
И
я
I
ja
And I
..(0.3)
..(0.3)

поба= || ..(0.1)
/подо-ошёл к нему,
poba= || ..(0.1)
/podo-ošёl k nemu,
FST
approached to it
ну к этому /дереву,
nu k ètomu /derevu,
well to this
tree
у которого /сверкало чего-то,
u kotorogo /sverkalo
čego-to,
at which
glittered
something
29
Echo: not just nominative

/\открываю,
/\открываю,
I.open
 и передо мной так /висят ...(0.7) семь \–трупов.
и передо мной 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
30
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
I
And
..(0.3)
..(0.3)
/вдруг я увидела
/vdrug ja uvidela
suddenly I saw
какую-то ..(0.4) \к-коробку.
kakuju-to ..(0.4) \k-korobku.
some
box
С
/бантиком \сверху.
S
/bantikom \sverxu.
With ribbon
on.top
32
Increment: a circumstant

/Нырнула,
/Nyrnula,
I.dove
 и \поплыла.
i
\poplyla.
and started.swimming
 ...(0.7) И
вот
так
...(0.7) I
vot
tak
And
this
way
 я /доплыла,
ja /doplyla,
I
reached.by.swimming
 ..(0.4) под /водой,
..(0.4) pod
/vodoj,
under water
/получилось,
/polučilos’,
it.happened
33
Long EDUs: some sources
 Finite verbs > epistemic markers
 Finite verbs > quotative markers
 Verb serialization
34
Epistemic marker N14: 45



...(0.9)
...(0.9)
Потом
я ..(0.3) /п-просыпаюсь,
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
35
Quotative marker: verb of
speech
Z14


Это
Èto
говорят новая /мо-ода там,
govorjat novaja /mo-oda tam,
This they.say new
fashion
there
в восемнадцатом
/веке новая
v vosemnadcatom
/veke novaja
in eighteenth
century new
такая
–\мо-ода пошла.
takaja –\mo-oda pošla.
such
fashion
appeared
36




Quotative marker: verb of
thinking
n06
И вот ..(0.1) как-то мне было /страшно
I vot ..(0.1) kak-to mne bylo /strašno
And here
somehow to.me was scary
..(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
туда заходить,
tuda zaxodit’,
there enter
37
Serialization


N26: 113
...(0.6) она говорит
...(0.6) ona govorit
she says
«/Садись делай \/сама¡
«/Sadis’ delaj
\/sama¡
Sit
do
yourself
38
Serialization: verb union N21

И
I
And
я его при этом /стою и \протираю.
ja ego pri ètom /stoju i \protiraju.
I it
with all.that stand and wipe
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 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
na ètom
on that
/сон
\кончился.
/son
\končilsja.
dream ended
43
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,
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.
44
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 postaccent syllables, often rise of tone (V-bend)
45
F0 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)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
And—
and they were in church,
and everybody approached them,
and started stroking,
the baby on his head,
and the baby had such a thing,
the shining one,
around his head,
and everbody rejoiced,
that the baby of Jesus Christ was born.
48
Subordinate clause in a
different sentence
 ..(0.4)
..(0.4)
 ..(0.4)
 ..(0.4)
 ..(0.3)
 ..(0.3)
а
потом
a
potom
and then
\Бабушка.
\Babuška.
Granny.
Ну чтоб в
Nu čtob v
Well for to
меня \разбудили.
menja \razbudili.
me
they.awoke.
\школу идти.
\školu idti.
school go.
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 that’s a 59
cousin 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 that’s a 60
cousin 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 that’s a 61
cousin 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 that’s a 62
cousin 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 that’s a 63
cousin 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 that’s a 64
cousin 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
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”
66