Functions of Dysfluencies in Conversation : Through The Remains of the Day

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how and why native speakers of English use dysfluencies such as 'er', 'erm', '...' , repeats and repair. Comparison between Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, The Remains of the Day (1989) and its film (1993) reveals that the film has a larger number of dysfluencies and a larger variety of dysfluencies than the novel. Never being at the end of sentences, filled pauses (= um, er, erm) signal that the speaker is still holding the floor. Concordance among hesitation pauses (=...) and filled pauses shows there is no repetition of the same dysfluency. Filled pauses are most frequently followed by ... (pause). Longer concordances, expanded to left 5 and right 5, help us understand that discourse markers such as 'and', 'but', 'well' often collocate with pauses. Several case studies confirm that when you face the need to keep saying what you want to say and plan what to say next at the same time, you hesitate, which implies to your listener that new information is upcoming. The more demanding your need of doing the two different jobs at a time becomes, the less fluently you speak, producing more dysfluencies, discourse markers, and vocatives.