The transcription of COSER materials indicates three types of information, each with its own conventions:
A set of tags is used to reflect the turns of speech and the various circumstances of the conversation. This set does not need to be complete as the analysis of the conversation itself is not one of COSER’s primary aims.
Overlaps: simultaneous speech and background voices
Simultaneous speech E1
[HS:E1 ]
Simultaneous speech E2
[HS:E2 ]
Simultaneous speech E3
[HS:E3 ]
Simultaneous speech E4
[HS:E4 ]
Simultaneous speech E
[HS:E ]
Simultaneous speech I1 [HS:I1 ]
Simultaneous speech I2 [HS:I2 ]
Simultaneous speech I3 [HS:I3 ]
Simultaneous speech I4 [HS:I4 ]
Simultaneous speech I [HS:I ]
Simultaneous speech [HS: ]
Crosstalk [HCruz: ]
Other overlaps [HSim-O: ]
Simultaneous voices [V-Sml]
Distant voices[V-Ljn]
Murmurs [V-Mrm]
In all these tags reflecting overlaps between participants in the conversation or from the surroundings, only the beginning of the overlap is indicated and inserted at the precise moment when the overlap begins. It is therefore not necessary to mark the end of simultaneous interventions, usually that of the interviewer and the informant, since the analysis of the conversation is not one of COSER’s primary aims.
The [HCruz: ] tag is reserved for those cases in which an unexpected participant, who is not involved in the main conversation, arrives and is suddenly addressed by the informant.
Pronunciation
Emphatic
[P-Enf: ]
Relaxed
[P-Rel: ]
Whispered
[P-Ssr: ]
Enunciated
[P-Slb: ]
Vocal emissions
Assent
[Asent]
Laughter (plural)
[RISAS]
Laughter (singular)
[RISA]
Laughing while speaking
[Rndo: ]
Crying while speaking
[Llndo: ]
Exclamations
[EXCL]
Cough
[TOS]
Throat clearing
[CARRASP]
Click
[CHASQ]
Onomatopoeia
[ONOMAT]
Breathing
[RESPIR]
Others
[OTRAS-EM]
Vowel or consonant lengthening within a word is not transcribed. When the lengthening occurs in the final vowel or consonant, it is marked with ellipses. For example: Cómooo is transcribed Cómo… Prosodic features such as rising, falling or held intonation are also not marked.
All assenting or phatic sounds (ajá, hum, mm,
etc) are marked with the [Asent] tag.
Onomatopoeias are indicated by the [ONOMAT] tag after the sound has been transcribed with the
conventional spelling.
Examples:
Ahora, ahora la música, traen las músicas esas de bom, bom,
bom..., bom, bom, bom [ONOMAT].
Al día... totó, totó..., [ONOMAT] otra cosa no hacía, eh, desde las nueve que se levantaba hasta las
once la noche, así...
The [OTRAS-EM] tag indicates all indistinct sounds uttered by the informant or the interviewer, whether they are spoken planning pauses (in indistinct vowels that cannot be recognised as suspensive lengthening after a word) or consonant sounds, snorts, etc. In the latter case, [OTRAS-EM]
will be preceded by the transcription of the sound in question, according to the following conventions: Bah, puf, prr, brr, pss, chss.
Pauses and silence
Pause
[PS]
Pause lapse
[PS: ]
Silence
[SLNC]
External emissions and interruptions
Informant slapping noise
[R-Inf]
Vehicle noise
[R-Vhc]
Animal noise
[R-Anm]
Voices noise
[R-Vcs]
House noise
[R-Cas]
Door(s) noise
[R-Prt]
Knock(s)
[R-Glp]
Music noise
[R-Mus]
Bell noise
[R-Cmp]
Wind noise
[R-Vnt]
Telephone noise
[R_Tlf]
Paper noise
[R-Ppl]
Recorder noise
[R-Grb]
Microphone noise
[R-Mcr]
Undetermined noise
[R-Ind]
Movements and gestures
Demonstrative
[G-Mst]
Imitative
[G-Imt]
General
[G-Gnr]
Others
[G-Otr]
Recording intelligibility
Unintelligible
[A-Inn]
Barely intelligible
[A-PIn: ]
Inaudible
[A-Nul]
Barely audible
[A-Pau]
Recording cut
[A-Crt]
Recording error
[A-Err]
Oral literature and traditions
Story [LT-Rlt: ]
Recitation [LT-Rct: ]
Song [LT-Cnt: ]
Saying
[LT-Rfn: ]
Others [LT-Otr: ]
