| Symbol |
Example |
Explanation |
[
|
C2: quite a [ while
Mo: [ yeah |
Left brackets indicate the point at which a current speaker’s talk is overlapped by another's talk. |
| ] |
C2: and i thought]
Mo: you said] |
Right brackets indicate the point at which two overlapping utterances end. |
| = |
W: that I'm aware of =
C: =Yes. Would you confirm that? |
Equal signs, one at the end of a line and one at the beginning, indicate no gap between the two lines. |
| (.4) |
Yes (.2) yeah |
Numbers in parentheses indicate elapsed time in silence in tenths of a second. |
| (.) |
to get (.) treatment |
A dot in parentheses indicates a tiny gap, probably no more than one-tenth of a second. |
| _______ |
What's up? |
Underscoring indicates some form of stress via pitch and/or amplitude. |
| :: |
O:kay? |
Colons indicate prolongation of the immediately-prior sound. The length of the row of colons indicates the length of the prolongation. |
| WORD |
I've got ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT |
Capitals, except at the beginnings of lines, indicate especially loud sounds relative to the surrounding talk. |
| .hhhh |
I feel that (.2) .hhh |
A row of h's prefixed by a dot indicates an inbreath; without a dot, an outbreath. The length of the row of h's indicates the length of the in- or outbreath. |
| ( ) |
future risks and ( ) and life ( ) |
Empty parentheses indicate the transcriber’s inability to hear what was said. |
| (word) |
Would you see (there) anything positive |
Parenthesized words are possible hearings. |
| (( )) |
confirm that ((continues)) |
Double parentheses contain author's descriptions rather than transcriptions. |
| - |
talking about-
uh
|
A hyphen after a word or part of a word indicates a cutoff or self interruption, often done with a glottal or dental stop. |
|
° |
C2: and then° I remember |
The degree sign indicates that the talk following it was markedly quiet or soft. |
| _: or : |
C2: In the gy:m? |
If the letter(s) preceeding a colon is underlined, it indicates the pitch turning downwards. |
| >< |
>we were just< |
"Greater than" and "less than" carrots in this order indicate that the talk between them is rushed or compressed. |
| <> |
|
"Less than" and "greater than" carrots in this order indicate that the talk between them is markedly slow. |
|
↓ or ↑ |
↓are you↓ |
The up and down arrows mark sharp rises or falls in pitch or may mark a whole shift or resetting of the pitch. |
| # |
# it was in the |
Indicates a rasping or 'creaky' voice quality. |
|
£ |
£ it was so |
Indicates the speaker is smiling while speaking. |