ABSTRACT
Up to this point, the symbols we have discussed are inserted at single points in the transcript. They refer to events occurring at particular points during the dialogue. There is another major class of symbols that refers not to particular points in the transcript, but to stretches of speech. These symbols are enclosed in square brackets and the material to which they relate can be enclosed in angle brackets. The material in the square brackets functions as a descriptor of the material in angle brackets. If a scoped symbol applies only to the single word preceding it, the angle brackets need not be marked, because CLAN considers that the material in square brackets refers to a single preceding word when there are no angle brackets. Depending on the nature of the material in the square brackets, the material in the angle brackets may be automatically excluded from certain types of analysis, such as MLU counts and so forth. Scoped symbols are useful for marking a wide variety of relations, including paralinguistics, explanations, and retracings.
