Transcription Conventions
By Emanuel Schegloff
Transcribed data extracts embody an effort to have the spelling of the words roughly indicate how the words sounded when produced. Often, this involves a departure from standard orthography. In addition, the following symbols can be used to convey aspects of the talk that figure most frequently as design features of talk-in-interaction. For other transcription resources not included here, see the sources cited at the end of this document.
--> Arrows in the margin point to the lines of transcript relevant to the point being made in the text.
( ) Empty parentheses indicate talk too obscure to transcribe. Words or letters inside such parentheses indicate the transcriber’s best estimate of what is being said or who is saying it.
hhh .hhh The letter “h” is used to indicate hearable aspiration, its length roughly proportional to the number of “h”s. If preceded by a dot, the aspiration is an in-breath. Aspiration internal to a word is enclosed in parentheses. Otherwise “h”s may indicate anything from ordinary breathing to sighing, laughing, etc.
[ Left-side brackets indicate where overlapping talk begins.
] Right-side brackets indicate where overlapping talk ends.
Brackets should always appear with one or more other brackets of the same sort (left or right) on the line(s) directly above or below to indicate which turns are implicated in the overlap.
((coughs)) Words in double parentheses indicate transcriber’s comments, not transcriptions.
(0.8) (.) Numbers in parentheses indicate intervals without speech in tenths of a second; a dot in parentheses marks an interval of less than (0.2).
becau- A hyphen indicates an abrupt cut-off or self-interruption of the sound in progress indicated by the preceding letter(s) (the example here represents a self-interrupted “because”).
::: Colons indicate a lengthening of the sound just preceding them, proportional to the number of colons.
He says Underlining indicates stress or emphasis, proportional to the number of letters underlined.
drink An upward-pointing arrow indicates especially high pitch relative
drink to preceding talk; a downward-pointing arrow indicates especially low pitch relative to preceding talk.
>talk< Right and left carats (or “more than” and “less than” symbols) indicate that the talk between them was speeded up or “compressed” relative to surrounding talk.
<talk> Left and right carats (or “less than” and “more than” symbols)
indicate that the talk between them was slower or “stretched”
relative to surrounding talk.
= Equal signs (ordinarily at the end of one line and the start of an ensuing line attributed to a different speaker) indicate a “latched” relationship -- no silence at all between them. If the two lines are attributed to the same speaker and are separated by talk by another, the = marks a single, through-produced utterance
by the speaker separated as a transcription convenience to display overlapping talk by another. A single equal sign in the middle of
a line indicates no break in an ongoing spate of talk, where one
might otherwise expect it, e.g., after a completed sentence.
˚word˚ Talk appearing within degree signs is lower in volume relative to
surrounding talk.
WOrd Upper case marks especially loud sounds relative to the
WORD surrounding talk.
Punctuation is designed to capture intonation, not grammar and should be used to describe intonation at the end of a sentence or some other, shorter unit. Use the symbols as follows:
? question mark for marked rising intonation;
. period for marked falling intonation; and
, comma for a combination of slightly rising then slightly falling
(or slightly falling and then slightly rising) intonation;
These notational conventions were developed by Gail Jefferson. An instructional Transcription Module accompanied by digitized sound is available at http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/schegloff/.
Fuller glossaries can be found in Structures of Social Action, edited by J.M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (Cambridge University Press 1984: ix-xvi); in Interaction and Grammar, edited by E. Ochs, E.A. Schegloff, and S.A. Thompson (Cambridge University Press 1996:461-65); and in G. Jefferson’s article, “Glossary of Transcript Symbols with an Introduction,” in Conversation Analysis: Studies from the First Generation, edited by G. Lerner (John Benjamins Publishing 2004:13-31.
