Paralanguage: Evidence from Germanic

Evidence of paralanguage is sought in historical documents of earlier stages of Germanic languages by applying the paralinguistic feature categories identified by George Trager (1958), particularly vocal characterizers, vocal qualifiers, & vocal segregates to the visual representation of language. Geometric schemes with paralinguistic function are evidenced in Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions & a manuscript of the Old Saxon poem Heliand; also meaningful are graphic styles, supernumerary dots, & spontaneous contractions that reflect the writers' practice of uttering words mentally or in a low voice while writing them. Interjections in historical texts provide evidence of virtual vocal segregates, whereas virtual vocal characterizers are transmitted by appending to reported speech statements that the speaker is laughing or crying. The vocal qualifier feature of drawl is claimed to be represented by diphthongal spellings in the Heliand. 2 Figures, 22 References. J. Hitchcock