Spokenness

Spokenness refers to the linguistic and phonetic characteristics that distinguish spoken language from written language. It encompasses a range of features that are typically present in spontaneous, unscripted speech but may be absent or altered in formal writing. These features include variations in pronunciation, such as hesitations, false starts, repetitions, and fillers like "um" and "uh." The rhythm and intonation of speech also contribute to spokenness, with patterns of stress, pitch, and tempo conveying meaning and emotion.

Grammatical structures in spoken language often differ from written forms. Spoken discourse may feature shorter sentences, simpler syntax, and the use of colloquialisms and idiomatic expressions. Cohesion and coherence are often achieved through pragmatic means, such as deixis (references to context) and shared knowledge between speakers, rather than explicit linguistic markers. The performative aspect of speech, including gestures, facial expressions, and body language, also plays a role in conveying meaning, further differentiating it from the disembodied nature of written text. Understanding spokenness is crucial in fields like linguistics, phonetics, computational linguistics, and language teaching.