A contribution to the Study of Silent Pauses and So-Called

A contribution to the Study of Silent Pauses and So-Called "hesitation" phenomena in
Spontaneous Oral French.
A Study of Data from French Class Narratives.
This study investigates so-called "hesitation" phenomena in non-read oral French, which
we prefer to call "formulation effort markers" [une autre traduction possible, que je trouve plus
élégante mais qui traduit peut-être moins bien ton idée serait "formulation attempt markers"],
which is to say the "euh", significant final lengthening, repetition, and immediate auto-correction.
Particular importance is accorded to the combinations between these markers and with silent
pauses.
Our results show that a silent pause following an "euh" or a lengthening due to an effort at
[attempt at] formulation, as well as silent pauses inserted between two terms of a repetition, all
form a distinct group, which we have named "non structuring pauses" because they are part of the
preceding marker and do not contribute to the hierarchy and demarcation of the constituents.
Each marker, studied separately, is characterized by its own length and that of the
subsequent pause, by its combination with other markers and its occurrence within mixed
accumulated marker sites, by its lexical contexts and (intono-)syntactic distribution. The most
common as well as the least frequent configurations are catalogued. This analysis is founded
upon (rare) accomplished studies of these markers in French. It attempts to verify, nuance and
enrich certain hypotheses which have already been formulated, and is based on 70 minutes of
recorded non-read narratives during French class.
Through perception tests and the analysis of "hesitation" markers by playwrights and
actors, this study also contributes to a better understanding of how ordinary readers represent
these phenomena along with their perceptibility.
KEY WORDS: PHONETICS, SILENT PAUSES, HESITATION, FORMULATION EFFORTS
[ATTEMPTS], NON-READ FRENCH ORAL PRODUCTION, LENGTH, DISTRIBUTION,
PROSODY