English grammar - Roger Berry 2012
A12.4 Some tendencies in spoken English
A12 Grammar in speech and writing
Section A. Introduction
Beyond the absolute distinctions described above there are many situations where the difference is more to do with a tendency. For instance, in the written texts studied in C10 and C11, noun phrases tended to become very long, involving multiple layers of subordination. Compared to this, noun phrases in unplanned speech tend to be short, with a limited amount of premodification and postmodification, and with little subordination.
Here are some more specific, typical features of speech.
Contextual ellipsis
B11 discusses one form of ellipsis, where the missing words may be deduced from the accompanying text:
I’ll come if you want (me to come).
This can be called textual ellipsis. There is another kind of ellipsis which is very common in informal spoken language, particularly conversation. This is where the start of a clause is omitted, for example:
Hope you are well. (I hope . . .)
(So are you coming?) - Depends on the weather. (It depends . . .)
(Why did he do it?) - Don’t know. (I don’t . . .)
This is sometimes called ’contextual (or “situational”) ellipsis’ because there are no textual clues to help supply the missing words. Instead the context - e.g. the fact that two people are talking to each other - can be used to sort out the complete meaning, although knowledge of common phrases also plays a role (e.g. with (it) depends).
In the above examples, it is the subject that is missing, but the inverted auxiliary in interrogatives can also be omitted:
Tomorrow at 4 be okay for you? (Will tomorrow . . .)
You coming? (Are you . . .)
(Note that these are related to yes/no interrogatives, not to declarative questions: You’re coming?)
Both auxiliary and subject can be left out:
Know what I mean? (Do you know . . .)
Got any matches? (Have you got . . .)
This can include the verb be as well as the auxiliary:
Good to see you yesterday. (It was good . . .)
Though ellipsis is most obvious with shortened clauses, where a clause is missing some words, the concept can be extended to minor sentences involving one word answers:
I just passed my driving test. - Fantastic! (That’s fantastic!)
Note that this is not a case of textual ellipsis. The missing words are not reconstructable from the previous text.
Activity A12.1
Try to reconstruct these common elliptical clauses. Can you think of any more?
1. Get it?
2. Told you so.
3. Sounds good to me.
Auxiliaries are also omitted in semi-modal expressions (as discussed in B6), often with non-standard spelling:
You gonna get in trouble. (You’re going to . . .)
We betta watch out. (We had better . . .)
I gotta go. (I’ve got to . . .)
When these are used in writing to indicate speech they are intended to sound very informal.
Left and right dislocation (also called ’headers’ and ’tails’)
This involves making a ’copy’ of an important noun phrase, moving it either to the start (left) or finish (right) of the clause and leaving a personal pronoun in its original place:
This film were going to see - what’s it about?
What’s it about, this film we’re going to see?
This is another technique for moving an element around the sentence (see B11) so that it can be focused on and/or made the topic, or so that a long subject can be avoided: What’s this film we’re going to see about? In real time the initial position may be used because the speaker states the topic before being sure what to say about it, while the final position may be preferred when the speaker starts a question and then realises the subject will be quite long.
New structures
There are some new structures that have become popular in speech recently (but which are frowned on by some older people). Two examples are the use of go and be like as reporting verbs to introduce direct speech (’quotes’):
And she goes ’What are you up to?’
He’ like ’Keep your hands off!’
Be like can also be used for reporting thoughts:
And I’m like ’What am I doing here?’
This construction can be understood as meaning ’I’m saying/thinking something like . . .’. See B12 for more on reported speech.
Non-standard forms
Elsewhere in this book we discuss a number of cases that are regarded variously (depending on who you talk to) as non-standard, incorrect or acceptable but informal. These include:
□ agreement following existential there: There’ your pills. (vs There are your pills; see A8)
□ contact relative clauses with the subject deleted: There’s a lot of people think he’s crazy. (See B10.)
□ the use of they to refer back to an indefinite noun phrase (see B2)
□ non-standard pronouns (for example: y’all, hisself - see B2)
Different forms of coordination
In formal written language, when there is a list of coordinated items, the normal ’rule’ is to place and between the last and last-but-one item.
We need ham, cheese, water and bread.
While variations on this pattern may occur in writing, they are more common in speech, perhaps as a result of planning issues (e.g. speakers may not know which is the last but one item in a list). Variations are found with the repeated use of and between clauses, as in this extract from one of the texts in C12:
. . . I - was also in the marching band - and - basically - we had to - perform at football games - at the 4th of July parade of course - and we had to wear these horrible uniforms - . . . - and we had to march in formation out on the football field . . . (See also the reading in D12.)
Another possibility is to omit and in phrasal coordination:
Good money, good conditions, long holidays - what else do you want?
Vocatives
Vocatives are words or phrases used in speech to draw the attention of a person or persons to what the speaker is saying. The choice of an appropriate vocative to reflect the relationship between speaker and hearer is also important. Vocatives cover a wide range, from the very familiar (mum, dude, mate, Jonny) to the very formal (Sir, Madam, Dr). Although they do not function as clause elements, their positioning is of interest. The most frequent position is at the end, as in this example:
Good morning, sir.
But the beginning is also possible:
Emily, can you pass me the towel?
Activity A12.2
It is sometimes said that emails are a ’hybrid’ form, a mixture of written and spoken language. Look at this email and identify features typical of speech.
Will contact Jonny.
Presume you mean Tuesday 2nd November. Would be good to catch up though . . .
Make sure you bring your thermals when you get back - heavy frosts the last few mornings . . .
Activity A12.3
Investigate the role of Peter in the sentence below. Which two of the above tendencies of spoken English could it exemplify? How would this ambiguity in writing be distinguished in speech?
He’s a friend of mine, Peter.