Some differences between speech and writing Characteristics of ‘typical’ speech compared with ‘typical’ writing ‘Typical’ speech ‘Typical’ writing Inexpliciteness Expliciteness Lack of clear sentence boundaries Clear sentence boundaries Simple structure More complex structures Repetitiveness Non-repetitiveness Normal non-fluency Fluency Monitoring features No monitoring features Interaction features No interaction features Features reflecting informality Features reflecting formality Linguistic characteristics of speech and writing: INEXPLICITENESS: Speech is generally used in face-to-face situations, so that both the auditory and visual media are available. As a result, speech can be much less explicit than writing, because (a) extra information is conveyed by ‘body language’ (e.g. facial expressions, gestures); the immediate physical environment can be referred to, e.g. by pointing to objects or people; (c) shared knowledge of the participants in a conversation makes expliciteness unnecessary; and (d) in a conversation there is an opportunity for feedback from the hearer, so that the message can be clarified or repeated. LACK OF CLEAR SENTENCE BOUNDARIES: Related to inexpliciteness in speech is the absence of clearly defined units we call sentences. In spontaneous speech, sentences are often difficult to delimit: they may simply be unfinished, because the knowledge of the addressee makes completion unnecessary, or they may not be discernable as units at all. It seems that the clause may be a more appropriate unit for analysing speech than the sentence. In context, the absence of clear sentence boundaries does not mean that conversation is difficult to follow: it just shows that the conversation is organised in a different way from writing. SIMPLE STRUCTURE: In general, speech is more simple in grammatical structure than writing. However, when we use terms like ‘simple’ and ‘complex’, we must be careful to explain what they mean. There is no one measure for complexity of structure, but the following measures, when combined, should be useful. A/ Clause structure – how many sentence elements, coordination and subordination While the number of elements in the clause can be seen as ‘horizontal’ complexity, subordination can be seen as ‘vertical’ complexity. B/ Noun phrase structure – how many modifiers do they contain (horizontal complexity), and how many subordinate phrases (vertical complexity)? C/ Where is vertical complexity located? In clauses, subordination at the beginning (‘left-branching’) seems to make for more complexity than embedding at the end (‘right-branching’). In noun phrases also, subordination towards the end of the phrase tends to be less complex than subordination at the beginning. We have thus outlined ways of measuring complexity in discourse. In general we can say that the greater the number of branches in the tree diagram, the more complex the sentence will be. Also, naturally enough, there is a strong correlation between complexity and length (measured in number of words). Speech is less complex than writing because of the short time available to produce and process it. Writing, on the other hand, can be re-drafted and re-read. REPETITIVENESS: Because of the lack of permanence of speech, it is more repetitive than writing. Important information has to be repeated since the addressee cannot refer back to what has gone before. NORMAL NON-FLUENCY: This results from the unprepared nature of speech and refers to phenomena such as hesitation, unintended repetitions, false starts, fillers, grammatical blends and unfinished sentences. A blend occurs where a sentences ‘swaps horses’, beginning in one way and ending in another. This is slightly different from a ‘false start’, where a sentence is broken off mid-way as a result of a change of mind. These phenomena are edited out in written language, which consequently appears more fluent. We may also note the apparent fluency of fictional speech that appears in literature. MONITORING AND INTERACTION FEATURES: These appear in speech, as a result of its use in dialogue, with a physically present addressee, rather than in monologue. Monitoring features indicate the speaker’s awareness of the addressee’s presence and reactions, and include adverbs and adverbials such as well, I mean, sort of, you know. Interaction features invite the active participation of the addressee, as in questions, imperatives, second-person pronouns, etc. INFORMALITY: The situations in which speech is used are generally less formal than those in which writing is used. Mode of discourse as a continuum from ‘typical’ speech to ‘typical’ writing ‘Typical’ speech Conversation in a pub Seminar Telephone conversation Personal letter Job interview Radio discussion Television advertisement Lecture Sermon Script of a play Television news Newspaper Business letter ‘Typical’ writing Scientific book Three interrelated scales of use (formality, politeness, impersonality) Formal Informal Complex sentences Polysyllabic, classical vocabulary, e.g. investigate, extinguish, decipher Simple sentence Monosyllabic, native vocabulary, especially phrasal verbs, e.g. look into, put out, make out Polite Familiar Respectful terms of address, e.g. Sir, Madam Indirect requests, e.g. Would you be so kind as to … Intimate terms of address, if any, e.g. John, love Direct imperatives, e.g. Give me … Impersonal Personal Passive voice, e.g. the terrorists were shot Third person noun phrases, e.g. the reader, customers Active voice, e.g. police shot the terrorists First and second person pronouns, e.g. I, you Dialect – language variation according to the user Register (style) – language variation according to use Register can be subdivided into three categories of language use, each of which affects the language variety. Tenor - has to do with the relationship between the speaker and the addressees (formality) Mode - has to do with the medium in which the language is transmitted (spoken x written language) Domain - has to do with how language varies according to the activity in which it plays a part Language varies according to the function it is fulfilling: Function Task Act of communication 1. referential convey information context 2. expressive express feelings speaker 3. conative persuade somebody to do st addressee 4. phatic make contact with somebody else channel 5. poetic write poetry message 6. metalinguistic talk about language itself code Domain Dominant function Subordinate functions Journalism referential expressive, conative Advertising conative referential, poetic Religion expressive conative, poetic Law referential metalinguistic, conative Literature poetic expressive, referential Conversation phatic referential, expressive