An evidential function of raised eyebrows in interaction
-
Camille Debras
Abstract
In the course of interaction, raised eyebrows is a facial display that can express a wide range of meanings, e.g. surprise, recognition, salience, or the anticipation of a response. I argue that these meanings are united by a common evidential feature: they mark a relation between the speaker and addressee’s respective knowledge or attitudes. More specifically, this intersubjective core function is to express a differential in expectations. In order to identify the form’s main functions and their multimodal contextual profiles (clusters of features), I combine quantitative statistical methods (multiple correspondence analysis), based on the fine-grained annotation of the corpus data (220 occurrences), with the qualitative analysis of excerpts. Sequential position is a key feature: in turn-initial position raised eyebrows mark a response, in turn-medial position they mark salience, and in turn-final position, other-orientation. In turn-initial and turn-final position raised eyebrows are multifunctional: they contribute to regulating turn-taking while displaying an attitude towards the previous or upcoming turn. As a visual form with a stable core meaning, raised eyebrows qualify as a recurrent gesture. Based on the characteristics of multifunctionality, intersubjectivity, and functional specialization depending on sequential position, raised eyebrows could also qualify as a visual pragmatic marker.
Abstract
In the course of interaction, raised eyebrows is a facial display that can express a wide range of meanings, e.g. surprise, recognition, salience, or the anticipation of a response. I argue that these meanings are united by a common evidential feature: they mark a relation between the speaker and addressee’s respective knowledge or attitudes. More specifically, this intersubjective core function is to express a differential in expectations. In order to identify the form’s main functions and their multimodal contextual profiles (clusters of features), I combine quantitative statistical methods (multiple correspondence analysis), based on the fine-grained annotation of the corpus data (220 occurrences), with the qualitative analysis of excerpts. Sequential position is a key feature: in turn-initial position raised eyebrows mark a response, in turn-medial position they mark salience, and in turn-final position, other-orientation. In turn-initial and turn-final position raised eyebrows are multifunctional: they contribute to regulating turn-taking while displaying an attitude towards the previous or upcoming turn. As a visual form with a stable core meaning, raised eyebrows qualify as a recurrent gesture. Based on the characteristics of multifunctionality, intersubjectivity, and functional specialization depending on sequential position, raised eyebrows could also qualify as a visual pragmatic marker.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Grammar and multimodality 1
-
Part I. Challenges for multimodal Construction Grammar; conventionality and integration of multimodal features
- Construction Grammar, multimodal communication, and design features of language 26
- Multimodality, conventionality and inheritance in dialogic constructions 38
- Utterance comprehension in spontaneous speech 69
- The prosody of list constructions 116
-
Part II. Multimodal aspects of constructions; language-specific features and cross-linguistic generalizations
- A multimodal approach to coordination in spontaneous conversation 154
- An evidential function of raised eyebrows in interaction 190
- Towards a functional perspective on multimodal constructions 220
- Contrastive negation constructions in Israeli Hebrew 251
- Pragmatic and prosodic aspects of the negative directive ðe mu les? (‘tell me’) in Greek conversation 285
- Subject index 313
- Constructions index 317
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Grammar and multimodality 1
-
Part I. Challenges for multimodal Construction Grammar; conventionality and integration of multimodal features
- Construction Grammar, multimodal communication, and design features of language 26
- Multimodality, conventionality and inheritance in dialogic constructions 38
- Utterance comprehension in spontaneous speech 69
- The prosody of list constructions 116
-
Part II. Multimodal aspects of constructions; language-specific features and cross-linguistic generalizations
- A multimodal approach to coordination in spontaneous conversation 154
- An evidential function of raised eyebrows in interaction 190
- Towards a functional perspective on multimodal constructions 220
- Contrastive negation constructions in Israeli Hebrew 251
- Pragmatic and prosodic aspects of the negative directive ðe mu les? (‘tell me’) in Greek conversation 285
- Subject index 313
- Constructions index 317
