language change among young people: 'uptalk?'

[Carolyn Chaney]

My experience is a bit different...I notice the rise as a place holder...a
way of regulating conversation (I'm not done yet).  It seems like
the way intonation is used in a list...so my turn at talk becomes a list
of things I have to say, and when I'm ready to give up my turn, my pitch
goes down.  I also observe this form in the context of public speaking,
where one should not have to hold onto the speaking turn...but
nonetheless, many of my students in public speaking-type courses do big
chunks of a speech like a list.

Carolyn Chaney
SFSU

On Sun, 15 Aug 1999, Lise Menn wrote:

> That one's been around for a while, and probably another case of gradual
> regional spread,  because in the PBS video American Tongues, which is
> quite old now, a New York comedian makes fun of it as 'southern', and then
> later it was documented, I think by Pam Munro of UCLA, as a California
> Valley Girl talk pattern.  The rise - which has by now become part of my
> speech also (and I'm past 55 and from the northeast) - functionally
> replaces 'y'know' as an appeal to shared experience.
>
> Lise Menn
> Professor
> Department of Linguistics
> University of Colorado
> Boulder, CO 80309-0295
> 303-492-1609
>
> On Sun, 15 Aug 1999 LloyAl at aol.com wrote:
>
> > Subj:   Re: language change among young people
> > Date:   8/15/99 9:28:31 PM EST
> > From:   LloyAl
> > To: santelmannl at pdx.edu
> >
> > I'm not sure my observation come under the heading of language change, but
> > here it is. I have  noticed quite often in recent years the use of what I
> > call a "declarative question". That is the use of a rising inflection at the
> > end of a statement that almost turns the statement into a question. The
> > listener usually responds as though a question has been asked. Has anyone
> > else observed this?
> >
> >
>
>
>