The first study, based on instances of everyday talk, to analyze prosodic orientation, a conversational strategy by which speakers design their speaking voice according to the vocal patterns used by their conversational partners. The book explores forms and functions of prosodic orientation, and offers a new perspective on prosody in conversation.

Spoken interaction is impossible without prosody. Intonation, pitch register, tempo, rhythm, pausing, loudness and voice quality all contribute to the spontaneous negotiation process that is everyday talk.
This highly accessible introduction to the prosody and analysis of everyday conversation explains basic concepts and methods of interpretation using a wealth of examples from real-life conversations. Readers are introduced to the many conversational practices prosody plays a part in through sample analyses, all of which are available to listen to as downloadable audio files on the...