Language in Time: The Rhythm and Tempo of Spoken Interaction (review)

The authors of this book are established researchers in the fields of conversation analysis and contextualization theory and use both of these frameworks to argue for a greater focus on the temporal nature of language. The work is based upon findings reported in Couper-Kuhlen, English speech rhythm: Form and function in everyday verbal interaction (Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1993). That work states that not all speech is rhythmic, rather that some portions of spoken interaction are rhythmic, and some portions are more rhythmic than others. One of the aims of the analysis of Italian, German and English in Language in time is to identify the elements or portions that are strongly rhythmic and to describe the patterns or ‘gestalts’ that contribute to rhythmicity.

Ch. 1 is an overview of how questions of rhythm and tempo have been marginalized in linguistic description and theory, resulting in the abstraction of rhythm in language at the cost of understanding how it functions in spoken language. It also looks at language-related rhythm research in disciplines outside linguistics.

Ch. 2 outlines discovery procedures for rhythmic analysis and discusses problematic temporal features including relative tempo, silent beats, and syncopated beats. The authors question the usefulness of instrumental analysis and state that because of the perceptual nature of rhythm, auditory analysis must have priority over instrumental analysis.

Chs. 3 and 4 use English data to examine turn taking and preference organization. Ch. 3 shows that rhythmic structures are not only evident within individual turns at talk but can be observed operating across turns at talk. Ch. 4 shows that both integrated and nonintegrated rhythm structures support and provide additional context for the preference system. Integrated rhythm signals that interaction is proceeding as usual; conversely nonintegrated rhythm typically signals that the interaction is problematic.

Ch. 5 introduces a contrastive perspective. It looks at the contextualizing functions of rhythms and tempo in German and Italian telephone closings, showing that successful closings have definite co-constructed rhythmic structures.

Chs. 6 and 7 focus on Italian data, looking at turn construction and conversational structures. Ch. 6 looks at the co-occurrence of rhythm and other verbal strategies in the construction of extended turns at talk. Ch. 7 looks at radio phone-in data to examine rhythmic patterns in the sequential context of openings and topic nomination, in formulaic paradigms such as contrastive pair sets and lists, and again on the role of rhythm in the construction (specifically the ending) of extended turns.

This work uses an approach which makes it possible to look at rhythm and tempo as interactional resources and suggests that in some circumstances the interactional function overrides phonological constraints. A background in the phonetics and phonology of speech rhythm would be useful for a critical reading of this work; however knowledge of conversation analysis and to a lesser degree contextualization would be fundamental to understanding the interactional and linguistic structures and activity types under discussion in this exciting and timely work.