The meanings carried by interjections in spontaneous speech

This paper presents a qualitative analysis on the variations in the speaking style and in the meanings (paralinguistic information) carried by several interjections appearing in spontaneous speech. Analysis results show that part of the paralinguistic information carried by several interjections can be associated to their speaking styles. On the other hand, the effects of small differences in the phonetic content, on the possible meanings carried by the interjections were also analyzed. The non-modal voice qualities, such as whispery, harsh and pressed voices, were also shown to be important in the expression of emotions and attitudes.