Prosodic matching beyond humans
On the interactional basis of "cat-directed" talk
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4358548 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Katariina Harjunpää (0000-0002-4586-1563), Beatrice Szczepek Reed (0000-0002-3814-5198) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 103 |
| Pages | 65-85 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language & Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0271-5309 • E-ISSN: 1873-3395 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.04.007 |
| OpenAlex | W4409785157 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 56 |
This conversation analytic study investigates a Finnish-speaking caretaker interacting with a cat and her two kittens while she records them on video. The study shows that when talking to the cats, the human prosodically matches their meows, chirps, trills, and purrs by approximating their pitch, duration, voice quality, loudness, and rhythm. Matching occurs with directives, questions, and response tokens (m-hm), as well as with imitative interjections (miu). Through different combinations of prosodic and lexical imitation, the human makes her talk responsive to the cats’ local conduct, and displays understanding and sharing of their ongoing activities and/or affective stances. The study sheds light on how prosodic features associated with so-called animal-directed talk emerge in the interspecies interactions in instances of matching
Basis (linear algebra · Cognitive science · Conversation · Conversation analysis · Linguistics · Matching (statistics · Communication · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism
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Doggerel
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Interspecies intercorporeality and mediated haptic sociality
Prosocial Consequences of Imitation
Functions of Repetitive Talk to Dogs during Play
Gaze in Interspecies Human–Pet Interaction
Speaking to and for Animals in a Veterinary Clinic
Cries of Pleasure and Pain
Sounds on the Margins of Language at the Heart of Interaction
Designing Talk for Humans and Horses
Americans' Talk to Dogs
Treating Distressed Animals as Participants
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Go on keep going
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But for calves we were sweeter'. Traditional Finnish cattle calling as trans-species pidgin
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Prosodic orientation
Sequence organization in human-animal interaction. An exploration of two canonical sequences
Dogs responding to human utterances in embodied ways
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A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation
Vowel Hyperarticulation in Parrot-, Dog- and Infant-Directed Speech
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |