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Are clefts contagious in conversation?1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

ANDREEA S. CALUDE
Affiliation:
University of Reading, Quantitative Biology and Applied Statistics, Whiteknights, PO Box 217, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AHacalude@gmail.com
STEVEN MILLER
Affiliation:
Trinity College Dublin, Department of Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Irelandstmiller@tcd.ie

Abstract

It is well known that conversationalists often imitate their own body language as a sign of closeness and empathy. This study shows that in spontaneous, unplanned conversation, speakers go as far as emulating each other's grammar. The use of a family of focusing constructions (namely, the cleft), such as it was my mother who rang the other day, or what I meant to say was that he should go Thursday, was investigated in a corpus of conversation excerpts in New Zealand English. Findings show that clefting is contagious. In other words, if one speaker uses a cleft, others will be likely to do so too.

Type
Squib
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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