Papers by Yotam Ben-Moshe
Open Linguistics
This study reports quantitative findings from a study of 205 Hebrew request for confirmation (RfC... more This study reports quantitative findings from a study of 205 Hebrew request for confirmation (RfC) sequences, as part of a comparative Pragmatic Typological project across ten languages. Based on video recordings of casual conversation, this is the first systematic survey of such sequences in Hebrew. We examine linguistic and embodied resources for making a RfC (syntactic and prosodic design; polarity; use of modulation, inference marking, connectives, and tag questions) and for responding to it (response type; use, type, and position of response tokens; (non)minimal responses; repeat strategies; nodding and headshakes). We find that Hebrew RfCs lack interrogative syntax, are overwhelmingly marked by rising final intonation, frequently marked as inferences, rich in types of connectives and modulators, but infrequently feature tag questions. In responses to RfCs, Hebrew presents a comparatively high rate of disconfirmation, which is often also relatively unmitigated, corroborating Linguistic Anthropological descriptions of Hebrew conversational style. Response tokens are used in over half of responses, while full repeats are relatively rare. Occasionally, nods and headshakes are found unaccompanied by speech, as exclusively embodied responses. We expand on two negating response tokens: the dental click (an areal feature) and the forceful ma pit'om 'of course not' (lit. 'what suddenly').
Journal of pragmatics, Aug 1, 2024
As in most other languages, clicks in Hebrew are not phonemes but still occur very frequently in ... more As in most other languages, clicks in Hebrew are not phonemes but still occur very frequently in speech. This Interactional Linguistic study, based on a corpus of casual Hebrew conversation, explores clicks at discourse unit junctures-prefacing topics, sequences, and their parts. We argue that the function of such clicks is best understood through Goffman's notion of 'frame shifts,' signalling changes in footing. Some frame-shifting clicks are byproducts of swallowing and breathing; at the same time, we show that click use is regular in certain contexts and interactionally significant, and that such clicks qualify as discourse markers. The tension between being non-linguistic epiphenomena and having a syntactic status is what makes frame-shifting clicks 'liminal signs.' Finally, we hypothesize that frameshifting clicks are explainable as the result of a reanalysis in specific bridging contexts, whereby clicks-as-byproducts are conventionalized into discourse markers. This process may explain why non-phonemic clicks are so widespread across the world, and it may serve as a starting point for describing the development of additional interactional functions of clicks.
Language & Communication, 2023
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Papers by Yotam Ben-Moshe