Janet Cahn | Searcharxiv

arXiv1995

An investigation into the correlation of cue phrases, unfilled pauses and the structuring of spoken discourse

Expectations about the correlation of cue phrases, the duration of unfilled pauses and the structuring of spoken discourse are framed in light of Grosz and Sidner's theory of discourse and are tested for a directions-giving dialogue. The results suggest that cue phrase and discourse structuring tasks may align, and show a correlation for pause length and some of the modifications that speakers can make to discourse structure.

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arXiv1995

The Effect of Pitch Accenting on Pronoun Referent Resolution

By strictest interpretation, theories of both centering and intonational meaning fail to predict the existence of pitch accented pronominals. Yet they occur felicitously in spoken discourse. To explain this, I emphasize the dual functions served by pitch accents, as markers of both propositional (semantic/pragmatic) and attentional salience. This distinction underlies my proposals about the attentional consequences of pitch accents when applied to pronominals, in particular, that while most pitch accents may weaken or reinforce a cospecifier's status as the center of attention, a contrastively stressed pronominal may force a shift, even when contraindicated by textual features.

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