Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-187).

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Within the framework of communicative accommodation theory, this study investigates the phonostylistic behaviour of French native speakers engaged in casual conversation. It examines some of the features speakers use to structure their discourse, particularly prosodic responses to the interlocutor and interaction management devices.  Part One gives an outline of previous research in the fields of conversation analysis, prosodic analysis and accommodation theory.  These insights are developed in Part Two into a framework that allows investigation of the following hypotheses: Accommodation and prosodic variation at topic change: this study examines the role of accommodation and prosodic variation as they occur at topic change in four case studies.  The management role of the pause at theme change will operate above the consensual/non-consensual categories, and hence variation in terms of melodic difference will be greater at such pauses.  By examining the thematic structure as it is reflected in prosodic behaviour around the pause by both speakers, the study demonstrates that at topic change there is a marked difference in the size of melodic gap in Hz around the pause. Accommodation and prosodic variation by length of pause:  It is contended that in consensual dialogue, the longer the duration of the empty pause which divides two consecutive turns, (1) the less the difference in intensity (dB) between the two speakers, and (2) the greater the difference in f0 between them, despite differences in their own vocal range. In non-consensual dialogue, it is contended that in instances where dispute or thematic refusal occurs (as witnessed through lexical indices), inversion of the two hypotheses above is possible. It was found that speakers can converge by matching each other’s pitch or by following a speech pattern whereby they both rise at small but regular intervals forming a smooth pattern in general pitch direction.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2009. / Thesis advisor: Matthew Ciscel. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-48). Also available via the World Wide Web.

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Discourse connectives are metatextual comments that signal discourse coherence relations. They can be realized by sentence adverbials that have their roots in verb phrase adverbials and have followed a path of development that is well attested both for English and cross-linguistically. This study investigates how and why it occurs. It claims that the development belongs to a wider phenomenon of unidirectional internal semantic change, that this change involves context-induced reinterpretation, and that both the immediate discourse context and the wider rhetorical context can be instrumental in bringing it about. Using diachronic and synchronic data in a corpus-linguistic approach, the frequency and distribution of the adverbials after all, in fact, at least and of course are investigated. These are found to follow similar paths of development at different rates and to varying extents. Each undergoes some increase in frequency, subjectification and abstraction, shift of discourse plane and categorial reanalysis. Each acquires at least one connective function to express rhetorical relations such as concession, contrast, justification or elaboration. These relations are defined using the framework of Rhetorical Structure Theory. The analysis identifies, in the history of the expressions, contexts of co-occurrence with particular relations that are argued to generate connective implicatures which later crystallize. During long periods the expressions may have stable but defeasible implicatures in the relevant contexts. These contexts include rhetorical structures spanning two or more clause complexes and often consisting of quasi-conventional sequences of rhetorical relations typical of argumentation. They may be described as incipient discourse constructions or rhetorical idioms. The emergence of new discourse connectives is seen to share many of the features attested in the grammaticalization of lexical material. It is argued that these phenomena are best accounted for in a single, usage-based theory of internal semantic change.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2008. / Title from web page (viewed on Mar. 30, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.