Structure
Although scripted conversation will often adopt structural devices typical of written language, informal speech has its own distinctive structural features, which the script of “Emmerdale” attempts to mirror.
One of these features, adjacency pairs, is a recognisable structural pattern and can be found in my transcription. In fact, Debbie and Chasitity’s conversation consists entirely of adjacency pairs, which help structure their conversation. The use of adjacency pairs imitates unscripted conversation and therefore adds to the realism of the script.
Another distinct structural device, turn taking, is also evident in my transcription. A prime example of this is the transaction between Sadie and Cain. Throughout their conversation only one of them speaks at one time, without varying much in length. Turn taking is necessary within unscripted discourse in order for transitions to occur smoothly as well as progression of the conversation; this feature again reflects spontaneous conversation.
There are various types of openings used in the text; one example is Sadie’s opening to Cain:
“
Sadie: Listen to me (3) you’ve left it too late (3) its finished
In this opening Sadie establishes the topic and initiates the discourse with a self-related comment, that is “listen to me”. At first glance this implies that Sadie is in control of the conversation but as the conversation progresses it is obvious that it is centred on Cain. This is because Cain is in complete control of the situation whilst Sadie and Tom are at his mercy; Sadie is constantly focusing on the escape topic as she is trying to convince Cain to let them go. Another speaker move used in the conversation is the supporting role; Cain replies to Sadie in relation to the escape topic. For example:
Sadie: Listen to me (3) you’ve left it too late (3) its finished
Cain: There’s a million more places to go (1.5) ‘specially now they’re all the more interested in my car going up.
Cain continues the escape subject with another self-related comment, supporting Sadie’s statement. The latter features all establish conventional patterns in which Sadie focuses interest on Speaker B. The exchange is slightly repetitive with neither giving up.
An example of a different type of opening is the exchange between Debbie and Chasitity. Debbie instigates the conversation with a neutral question leading onto a neutral topic:
Debbie: What’s happenin’ there?
The fact that this is a more neutral opening and topic, reflects the nature of their relationship, which is much more equal than that of Cain’s and Sadie’s.
Prosodic Features
Prosodic features are an important part in everyday conversation, often playing the part of punctuation and capital letters do in written language by dividing spoken utterances into smaller units. Due to the fact prosodic features are found in spontaneous conversation means that they are of course present within my transcription.
One of the most obvious features is intonation, which has the effect of conveying different grammatical moods and attitudes of surprise, excitement and anger etc. In Debbie’s case she uses it as and expression of anxiety:
Debbie: ^ What if he’s killed Sadie? ^
This reflects normal spontaneous conversation in which someone’s voice tends to rise in worrying or distressing circumstances.
However, we also see an example of rising intonation used in a questioning manner, which also has the effect of marking an end to an utterance, which indicates the end of a turn.
Matthew: ^ It can’t be ^
And
Debbie: What’s happen’ in ^there^?
Another use of intonation in relation to the semantics of the utterance is used by Cain:
Cain: v got a clue v
The falling intonation reflects his menacing attitude and annoyance.
Another prosodic feature present in the text is stress. By emphasising a word it marks words or importance as well as displaying more emotion. For example:
Cain: not thanks to your ex bringing the dibble in
Cain’s stress upon the word “dibble” shows his distaste or anger towards the police (dibble); he is almost spitting the word.
Another example which shares the same semantics is an extract from Chasitity’s statement:
Chasitity: (2) scumbag that he is (4)
Chasity also emphasises the word “scumbag” to communicate her anger and frustration. A different use of stress comes from Debbie who uses this feature to stress the importance/ severity of her utterance.
Debbie: I should never have told him ‘bout Jasmine (1)
Pauses also play an important part in spoken speech and can be found throughout the dialogue. They have the effect of making the script appear less rehearsed and more informal as where the manner is formal, although pauses can be used for dramatic effect, the rhythm is usually more regular and stylised.
However there is one exception to this rule; the character Sadie uses pauses in a more formal manner, her type of rhetorical style is commonly found in speeches written to be spoken. By pausing before beginning of an utterance gives more weight to what she is about to say by ensuring she has the listener’s attention. This rhetorical style reflects Sadie’s confident and assertive personality.
Sadie: Listen to me (3) you’ve left it too late (3) its finished
And
Sadie: Look (1) leave us here (2) get away while you can
Vocal effects are also used in the transcription and are used to either reinforce or contradict the meaning conveyed by the spoken word. Examples are:
Tom: groans/ mumbles
Tom is gagged so this reinforces this fact and reminds the audience of the situation.
Cain: (smirks) I agree with you Tom (2) chatterbox
This contradicts Cain’s statement of agreeing with Tom, which forms part of the humour in the utterance; by smirking he is being condescending towards Tom by taking the mickey.
Chasitity: (sigh) ohh (1) coppers
This reinforces Chasitity’s exasperation and helps portray her emotions more clearly.
Lexis
The transcription’s level of formality is notably low; this is the result of the various lexical features found in the transcription. The most prominent feature being the use of conversational lexis; this feature is often found in unscripted conversation and the use of it in this dialogue adds to its’ realistic nature.
Chasitity: yeah I do (2)
And
Chasitity: Look (1) leave us here
Another feature of an informal register, hyperbole, can also be found within the text:
Cain: There’s a million more places to go
This form of exaggeration has the effect of stressing/emphasising the speaker’s point and is often found in spontaneous speech particularly when the speaker feels especially enthusiastic about a certain fact or statement.
The subject of the transcription is specific, as it was a feature episode of Emmerdale, which in my opinion is the reason for the distinct lack of high-frequency conversational clauses. All the conversations that took place had a mostly transactional purpose, which means that the conversations taking place were necessary which means it is more focused.
However, there was a couple of examples of conversational clauses to be found within the dialogue, such as:
Chasitity: Yeah I do (2)
And
Chasitity: You know (1)
Another lexical feature found in the text is the use of colloquial idioms. These are often found in spoken discourse and have the effect of allowing a greater expression of language. Examples are:
Chasitity: (2) he’s not got it in him
And
Background Voice: I don’t believe this!
Other idioms can also be found within the dialogue:
Chasitity: …everyone givin’ the evil eye
And
Chasitity: Matthew was pushing my buttons over Cain being a killer
A large influence on the lexical structure of the transcription came from the location it is set in; Yorkshire. Because of this a lot of the dialect is local and uses phrases and formations other regions are not used to hearing. The best example comes from Cain:
Cain: not thanks to your ex bringing the dibble in
The word “dibble” is specific to the West Yorkshire dialect and is a form of slang for police. The fact that the producers of Emmerdale took the time and effort to research this very specific piece of local dialect reflect the importance of dialect when producing a realistic imitation of spoken discourse.
Another feature linked into dialect structure is the syntax of the utterance structure. The order of words within a sentence varies depending on where you are. There are examples of syntax structure which don’t follow the standard rules of lexical structure:
Debbie: I should never have told him bout Jasmine
And
Chastitiy: (2) he’s not got it in him
Spoken discourse can often be ambiguous and the use of deictic expressions within the dialogue is an example of this ambiguity. Examples are:
Sadie: Listen to me (2) you’ve left it too late (3) it’s finished
And
Sadie: You’ll never get the money now
And
Debbie: I’m really sorry I had a go at you yesterday
Deictic expressions are also usually found in typical spoken conversation; the majority of people make reference to something they have discussed in the past which means that the context of the conversation is only clear if they have heard the entire conversation.
I believe that the use of deictic expressions within the dialogue serves the purpose of making scripted conversation mirror genuine conversation.
As for phonological features within the script, there was only one example:
Tom: groans/mumbles
I believe this was done to remind the audience of the kidnapping situation as it draws attention the fact that he is gagged and cannot therefore speak.
There are also examples of an abbreviated code to be found in the transcription; the characters make numerous references to Cain; so much so that in the conversation between Debbie and Chasitity they usually refer to Cain as “him” or “he”. This is also an example of grammatical cohesion.
Non-fluency features
There is a distinct lack of these features present in the text; I couldn’t find any examples of overlaps, fillers, or slips of the tongue. This may be a hint that the text is actually scripted and therefore not such a good imitation of spontaneous spoken discourse as first thought.
However, there is one type of non-fluency features present in the dialogue and that is the use of pauses. For example:
Sadie: Look (1) leave us here (2)
And
Chasitity: Look (1) they think he’s armed (1) and he will be (.)
In most cases pauses are used to give the speaker chance to think of their next utterance but in the case of my transcription I believe that pauses in the utterances serve the purpose of adding more weight to what is being said by adding an element of suspense and ensuring the listener is paying attention.
I believe that pauses have been used in this way due to the fact of this particular episode being based entirely on the drama of the kidnapping plot so suspense and tension is a necessity.
Grammar
The grammar of spoken language tends to be less structured and more rambling that that of written language and my transcription is no different.
The dialogue consists mostly of simple clause structure’s such as:
S v o
Sadie: You’ll never get the money now
And
S v
Cain: I agree with you Kane (2)
And
S v o
Sadie: You’ve still got the car
This reflects the unstructured nature of spontaneous speech; much of spoken discourse is spoken in broken segments as the thought occurs to the speaker.
However I did find one example of a compound clause structure:
S v o c
Chasitity: They think he’s armed (1) and he will be.
However, I found no examples of complex sentences within the dialogue which hint that the transcription is one of spoken discourse as complex clause structures are usually found in written discourse which tends to be more polished.
Modal auxiliary verbs are also present within the dialogue, in particular, as a degree of certainty:
Sadie: you’ll never get the money now
And
Chasitity: they think he’s armed (1) and he will be.
To strengthen their point or statement the characters make use of this modal degree of certainty. It makes them appear more confident and assuring which is the impression both characters want to give out.
Another grammatical feature, ellipsis, is also present within the dialogue. This feature is extremely common in spoken discourse therefore the use of it within the transcription is an imitation of genuine spontaneous speech. Ellipsis is arguably a flaw in our communication as if you haven’t been following the conversation it is difficult to understand what is going on. Examples are:
Chasitity: he won’t
And
Chasitity: you know (1) over Alice.
There are also different forms of grammatical modes used in the transcription. One example is changes in mood; such as Debbie changing of emotions from curious to anxious and slightly panicked. This helps add variety to the transcript.
Pre and post modification is also often found in spoken and written utterances but I found a distinct lack of this feature within my transcription; I fact I found only one example:
Policeman 2: Black BMW
The only reason I can think for the omission of modification maybe be due to the working class background of the characters. Many of these characters are portrayed as slightly simple or at least uneducated (the majority of the characters work in either farms or village shops) so by portraying them as possessing a lack of grammatical variation it re-enforces the characters they are attempting to portray.
Another feature typical of informal conversation is subordinate clauses; these are present throughout the script, often in conjunction with ellipsis:
Cain: ‘specially now they’re all the more interested in my car going up (adverbial - result clause)
And
Chasitity: (1) ‘cept everyone givin’ the evil eye (concessive clause)
This feature is often found in everyday speech and has been used in the dialogue to reflect real spoken discourse.
Another grammatical feature used within the dialouge is the use of an active and passive voice. The passive voice is generally far less common than the active voice, and this goes for my own transcription. The passive is often chosen for a reason: we may not know or may not want to say who or what is responsible for an action. Or it may just be that it is considered unimportant.
However, there are many examples of the use of a active voice:
Sadie: You’ll never get the money now
And
Cain: ‘specially now they’re all the more interested in my car going up
And
Debbie: what if he’s killed Sadie?
Summary
Through my analysis of the TV soap drama “Emmerdale”, I have come to the conclusion that is a brilliant emulation of spontaneous spoken conversation. Despite the dialect obviously being scripted, the writers lexical and grammatical choices make it appear typical of a genuine unscripted conversation. Therefore this means that the producer’s of the programmee suceeded in their imitaion of spoken discourse successfully and adeptly.