Frequency and Loudness in Overlapping Turn Onset by Welsh Speakers

This paper considers the frequency and loudness of incomings by next-speakers in overlapping conversation. The speech of Welsh-English bilinguals is examined using a combination of instrumental and impressionistic acoustic analysis. Previous research has found that in some varieties of English, incomings by the next speaker can be designed with high pitch and loud volume. The conversation analytic approach (CA) attempts to combine a sequential and phonetic analysis of the occurrence of overlapping stretches of speech. The results suggest that it is turn-competitive incomings by a next-speaker which are designed with high frequency and loud volume and located early in the current-speaker‟s turn. Previous research on English has found these same phonetic design features.