Entrainment as a basis for co-ordinated actions in speech

This paper asks how rhythmicity is used to manage speaker transition in spontaneous talk and how temporal alignment helps to achieve interactional alignment. 56 Question + Answer (Q+A) pairs were analysed. 44 (79%) Qs ended rhythmically: in their last few accented syllables, f0 prominences were quasi-periodic. Of the As to these rhythmic Qs, 32 (73%) began with the same periodicity as the Q. As with non-rhythmic entry into ‘turn space’ set up by a rhythmic Q were sequentially and interactionally complex. Rhythmic A entries included accented syllables, in-breaths, clicks and nods, suggesting ‘embodied’ rather than solely ‘linguistic’ temporal entrainment. Interactional alignment thus seems to exploit temporal entrainment in the vicinity of turn boundaries, like that established for musicians.