09 January 2009

Intonation Units

From 'Intonation units in spoken interaction: Developing transcription skills' by Stelma and Cameron in Text and Talk 27.3:
One of the constant properties of consciousness, according to Chafe, is that it has a focus and a periphery, much like human focal and peripheral vision. Moreover, focus is a dynamic property, as there is ‘a restless movement from one focus to the next; consciousness does not stand still’ (1996)