The presentation summarizes novel results on the function of lengthenings (LE) and filled pauses (FP) in the adult-directed speech of Hungarian children (ADS), and concludes that these possible functions of LE and FP differ remarkably in ADS. In addition, the functional distribution of LE and FP seems to differ from that reported in adult speech as well.

1. Pragmatic functions of lengthenings and filled pauses in the adult-directed speech
of Hungarian children
Andrea Deme*
* Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest and
Research Institute for Linguistics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
deme.andrea@nytud.mta.hu
Introduction How to determine transition relevant places?
Lengthenings and pauses (silent and filled) are the most common • Places of grammatical completion (PGC): syntactic and semantic
disfluencies of spontaneous speech. Lengthenings (LE) are generally finiteness; without SP
considered to be similar to filled pauses (FP) as both use the least amount  Supposedly prototypical strategies can be observed for
of energy and similar duration to afford the speaker time for thought and expressing the willingness to carry on speaking
speech planning (Eklund 2001). However, there is also a growing body of • Places of possible turn ends (PTE): syntactic and semantic
evidence suggesting that despite their obvious similarities, they differ finiteness; with SP (and/or DMs)
significantly in their acoustic properties as well as their positions, which
 Supposedly two separate strategies are used (with dominant
also might imply different functions in discourse.
prototypical forms): one for holding, one fore ceding the floor
In life the first experience in discourse is that of adult-(/parent-)directed
speech (ADS), furthermore ADS is a dominant part of frontal instruction • Possible markers of PGC and PTE: f0 contour (rising, falling), along
scenarios in school, therefore the management of adult-directed speech of with DMs, SPs
children is undeniably an important issue to address. Do LE and FP mark these boundaries or
In our study we focus on the role of LE and FP in discourse management turn starts / speaker exchange as well?
of children communicating with adult interlocutors. It is hypothesized that
LE and FP (accompanied by other parameters) play a role (and show
functional distribution) in marking the possible places of turn ends (a.k.a. Results
transition relevant places) to avoid or to initiate speaker exchange.
Markedness of PGC and PTE
Subjects, material and methods • No FP was found in PGC and PTE positions (only LEs!)
• 8 children (4 boys, 4 girls, age: 7–8); • Marking with LE seems to be an additional feature (to f0-contour),
• 45 minutes; frequency of usage varies with speakers (i.e. frequently used by Boy 1,
• Designation of LEs: carried out with a perception test (10 linguists, vowels Boy 4, not used by Boy 2).
marked by 6 listeners were counted as LE, introduced by Deme 2012); • Marking with LE accompanies mostly flat contours, but shows
• FPs were identified by means of auditory perception of the author. variation in unique cases (i.e. Girl 1 uses it with falling contour as well).

2. 100%
PGC
15.3%
• No falling contour is accompanied by LE.
• LE is not so common: probably the markedness caused by the f0-contour is ”enough” in these 75% 51.5% 18.9%
places, and LE is an additional (secondary) marker. Plateau
 Plateau and rise commonly enhance the feeling of the infiniteness of the utterance (which 12.2% Plateau + LE
balances grammatical finiteness, thus can be a used to express the intention of floor-holding). 50% 4.9% Rising
10% Rising + LE
PTE
• Two distinct dominant strategies: falling vs. plateau or rising (with / without LE). Falling
25% 25.5% 47.4% Falling + LE
 If the plateau and rise expresses infiniteness as suggested above, falling contour might enhance
the feeling of the finiteness of the utterance (thus can serve as means of floor ceding).
DMs 11.5%
0%
ilyen / ilyenek(et) ‘such’ > hát ‘well’ > és* ‘and’ + SP ~ (csak) ennyi(t)* ’that’s all’ ~ akkor* ‘then’ > aztán* ‘then’
*Not reported in adult speakers (see Dér 2005). PGC PTE
Boy 1 Boy 2 Boy 3 Boy 4 Girl 1 Girl 2 Girl 3 Girl 4 Clear boundary marking
strategies (PGC or turn
• 28 token
start): LE used by 6
• 7% marking turn • 25 token • 21 token
• 39 token • 18 token speakers; FP used by 4
start • 73% marking PGC • 86% marking PGC • 7 token
• 90% marking PGC • 1 token • 15 token • 89% marking PGC speakers (3 used both);
• 30 % marking •20% in DMs • 9% for planning / • 95% marking PGC while 7 speakers used DMs.
LE • 10% for planning • For speech
PGC
• 100% marking • 11% for planning
• 7% for planning / with adjacent • 5% marking turn
/ with adjacent planning PGC / with adjacent
• 64% for planning with adjacent disfluencies start
disfluencies disfluencies
/ with adjacent disfluencies • 5% in DMs References
disfluencies Deme, A. 2012.
Magánhangzónyújtások
• 4 token gyermekek spontán beszédében.
• 8 token • 13 token • 2 marking PGC • 3 token [Lengthenings in the spontaneous
• 12 token • 8 token
• 50% marking • 83% marking • 1 marking turn • 2 marking turn • 6 token speech of children.] In: Váradi T.
• 100% for • 100% for (szerk.) VI. Alkalmazott
turn start turnstart start start • 50% marking PGC
FP • 50% for planning • 17% for planning
planning / with
• 1 marking for
• None planning / with
• 1 for planning / • 50% marking turn
Nyelvészeti
Doktoranduszkonferencia,
adjacent adjacent Budapest: MTA Nyelvtudományi
/ with adjacent / with adjacent planning / with with adjacent start
disfluencies disfluencies Intézet. 24-39.
disfluencies disfluencies adjacent disfluencies Dér, Cs. I. 2005.
disfluencies Diskurzusszerveződés és
grammatikalizáció. [Discourse
• 9 token
• 8 token structure and grammaticalization]
• 44% marking Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 102:
• 38% marking PGC
• 2 token • 3 token • 3 token • 16 token ”restart” after PGC 247–264.
• 8 token • 36% marking turn Eklund, R. 2001. Prolongations: A
• 1 marking turn • 2 marking PGC • 100% marking • 75% marking PGC •16% marking turn • 1 token
DM • 100% marking
start • 1 marking turn PGC (all of them •15% marking start
start
• marking PGC
dark horse in the disfluency
stable. Proceedings of Disfluency in
PGC • 38% for planning
• 1 marking PGC start explicit forms) ”restart” after PGC • 40% for planning Spontaneous Speech. University of
/ with adjacent Edinburgh, Scotland. 5–8.
/ with adjacent
disfluencies
disfluencies
Discussion and Conclusions
It was demonstrated that LE and FP might have a role in turn-allocation. LEs are more frequent at boundaries with flat or rising contour, which implies that
LE might be connected to floor-holding strategies. FPs, on the other hand, are used for speech planning purposes more often, while their function in
discourse seems to be connected more to signaling turn starts than to the places of possible speaker exchange.