Transcription conventions

Transcription conventions

Transcribe (write down!) exactly what you hear. Include all pauses, however brief. Spell it as it sounds if the accent seems important or the word is non-standard e.g. awright?

Pauses

Can be of various lengths from the equivalent of a comma (called a micropause) to a timed pause of half a second to several seconds. 

e.g. I (.) well (.) I (0.5) like (3) love you

Utterances

Utterances in spoken language are like sentences but are not started with a capital letter. A full stop does not indicate the end of a sentence but does indicate a falling intonation giving a sense of finality. A rising intonation would be indicated with a question mark. Sometimes an up arrow or down arrow is used to represent rising or falling intonation.

I asked you a question. (2) well?

or

I asked you a question ↓ (2) well ↑

Names

Names are often replaced with letters to preserve the confidentiality of the participants. Like a script, the layout should start with the identifying code followed by a colon:

A: hold on

B: I’ve got it

A: thanks

Interruptions and overlaps

If someone else begins talking while someone is already speaking, a slash shows where the second speaker begins. The first person may continue speaking, causing an overlap:

A: hold/ on

B: /I’ve got/ it

A: /thanks

Or an interruption looks like this:

A: I(.) well (.) I/

B: /what is it?

A: (.)love you

Paralinguistics

Body language, actions and tone of voice can be indicated in square brackets.

A: hold/ on [helps B who is struggling with a stack of papers]

B: /I’ve/ got it (.) thanks [gets the stack balanced]

A: /got it? [smiles] (.) that’s it