The phonetics of sequence organization: an investigation of lexical repetition in other-initiated repair sequences in American English

Abstract

This thesis investigates the interrelationship of phonetic structure and sequence organization in talk-in-interaction. It integrates the methodology of Conversation Analysis and impressionistic and instrumental phonetics to show how activities in a conversation are managed and oriented to by the participants.\nThe study examines the phonetic characteristics of repetition in other-initiated repair sequences in American English. In these sequences, speakers repeat their immediately prior talk after prompting ( e.g., what ?; huh ?). Phonetic analysis of the repairs contradicts published accounts of the phonetic correlates of clear speech, and descriptions of the phonetics of repetitions .