personperiods

Person-periods are a linguistic phenomenon occurring in spoken language, where a pause or hesitation before the first word of a sentence isomatetic with the pronunciation of a specific word or phrase. This pause, when prolonged or intentionally made conspicuous, can influence the way the sentence is perceived and understood by the listener.

The underlying cause of person-periods is the combination of cognitive and sociolinguistic factors. When a speaker is faced with situations that require careful coordination and planning, such as starting to speak, they may experience a temporary difficulty in producing the correct word or sequence of words. This cognitive delay manifests itself linguistically as a pause, or person-period, which can influence the flow of the sentence and the distribution of communicative signals.

Person-periods are a natural occurrence in everyday speech, and are most commonly found in situations where a speaker's linguistic abilities are being tested, such as when giving directions to someone, starting a critical conversation, or when speaking quickly in a fast-paced communication environment. The meanings of these temporary pauses can range from constructive pauses that form part of the linguistic and cognitive process of the speaker, to intentional hesitations and unconscious directives to have the listener carry the burden of further communication.

While person-periods can technically be called hesitations or parentheticals, they have unique properties and linguistic roles when analyzed. Studies of spoken language, linguistics, and cognitive information processing examine person-periods to provide a clearer understanding of the timing and semantic effects at play and thus the psychological and verbal behaviors that originate person-period interactions.