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See non-verbal clues

Knowing the words spoken in a conversation or a talk is not always enough to understand what is going on. The spoken texts in the BNC have been annotated so that you can find information about, for example, shifts in voice quality, coughs, noises in the background, and other non-verbal clues. You can see this annotation by displaying the XML. You can also search for the non-verbal elements by using the XML query option.

Displaying the XML to see non-verbal clues

  1. Make a search and display the results on the screen.
  2. From the drop-down list in the Format box on the navigation bar (usually defaults to Plain) you select XML. The XMLannotation is displayed together with the text. Non-verbal elements that you may come across are: events (for example noises from outside), vocal (for example coughs), and shifts (changes in voice quality, for example when someone starts mimicking an accent or starts laughing while speaking).

Search for non-verbal clues

  1. From the File menu, choose New query and then XML (or click on the XML query icon marked </>). The XML query window opens.
  2. From the list displayed in the XML window, select vocal (to see vocal events. Choose events for noises from outside and shifts for changes in voice quality, for example when someone starts mimicking an accent or starts laughing while speaking).
  3. In the Attributes panel below, click on Desc and then on the Add from list... button. A list with existing codes is displayed
  4. Select the one you want and click OK to start the search. If you know the code you want, you can use the Add value or Add pattern buttons and type it in, instead of generating the list.
You can read more about the kind of non-verbal clues you can find in the BNC in the User Reference Guide.

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