{"title":"On “Whistle” Sound Objects in English Everyday Conversation","authors":"E. Reber, E. Couper-Kuhlen","doi":"10.1080/08351813.2020.1712966","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this article we study the forms and functions of whistling in social interaction. Our analysis identifies two basic forms of conversational whistling, (a) melodic whistling, when participants whistle the tune of, e.g., a familiar song; and (b) nonmelodic whistling. The focus in this article lies on nonmelodic whistles, which come in two contours linked to specific actions: (a) the tonal whistle deployed for summoning (e.g., a domestic animal but also human participants); and (b) the gliding whistle used for affect-laden responses to informings that breach a norm, often ones containing a numerical reference. The pitch contour used on the latter type of whistle matches those found for more lexical sound objects, e.g., oh, ah, and wow. The data base for the study comprises a wide range of audio and video recordings of mundane American and British English telephone and face-to-face conversations.","PeriodicalId":51484,"journal":{"name":"Research on Language and Social Interaction","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/08351813.2020.1712966","citationCount":"11","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Research on Language and Social Interaction","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2020.1712966","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 11
Abstract
ABSTRACT In this article we study the forms and functions of whistling in social interaction. Our analysis identifies two basic forms of conversational whistling, (a) melodic whistling, when participants whistle the tune of, e.g., a familiar song; and (b) nonmelodic whistling. The focus in this article lies on nonmelodic whistles, which come in two contours linked to specific actions: (a) the tonal whistle deployed for summoning (e.g., a domestic animal but also human participants); and (b) the gliding whistle used for affect-laden responses to informings that breach a norm, often ones containing a numerical reference. The pitch contour used on the latter type of whistle matches those found for more lexical sound objects, e.g., oh, ah, and wow. The data base for the study comprises a wide range of audio and video recordings of mundane American and British English telephone and face-to-face conversations.
期刊介绍:
The journal publishes the highest quality empirical and theoretical research bearing on language as it is used in interaction. Researchers in communication, discourse analysis, conversation analysis, linguistic anthropology and ethnography are likely to be the most active contributors, but we welcome submission of articles from the broad range of interaction researchers. Published papers will normally involve the close analysis of naturally-occurring interaction. The journal is also open to theoretical essays, and to quantitative studies where these are tied closely to the results of naturalistic observation.