ABSTRACT
The prosodic structure of speech comprises variation in three dimensions–fundamental frequency, duration and amplitude. All three dimensions exhibit specific effects which are dependent upon utterance position. Prosodic turn-yielding cues would have to be overlaid upon this characteristic utterance-final prosodic pattern. Very closely related to this prosodic configuration are certain voice quality features–example creaky voice–which may function as turn signals. When a conversation breaks down, the problem can often be traced to a failure in the turn-taking procedure that is the smooth interchange of speaking turns between conversational partners. External to the text, there exists a considerable range of cues which speakers may employ–consciously or not–to inform hearers where the current turn will end. Some of these cues are paralinguistic in nature-that is not part of the speech signal at all. The chapter concludes that neither the perceptual effectiveness of prosodic end-of-turn cues nor even their existence has been unequivocally established by Duncan's work.
