Manchester speech

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This sound file (right-click here to download a copy) is a recording of two men discussing music, and what the Manchester accent is.  A transcript of the first part of the recording is given below (click here for a pdf version):

A: [Out?] a few of my mates and that we all listen to music n like I've got a few
B:                                                                                      mm

A: [make?] . you know just make . beats n                   try to  n he'll he like
B:                                                          oh yeah yeahyeahyeah           

A: listens . especially hip hop music you only get like er references from America       you
B:                                                                                                                     yeah

A: know  so he's like I want to r hear some really good m stuff from Manchester         you
B:      yeah                                                                                                      yeah

A: know you know wiv our talk how we speak he said it's like it's never been done
B:        yeah                                    mm

A: an he bought a ts CD that was of some lads from Manchester you know who      just
B:                                                                                                                    yeah

A: come out nuh nuffing proper big or owt but they've done a CD and we were listening
B:

A: to that an I was saying I said well you were saying you want this I said but now listen to
B:

A: them they're from Manchester you can tell but so're we . you know from Greater
B:

A: Manchester but they sound totally different from us cos they had a real broad
B:

A: Manchester accent you know         n we we . we all speak like this you know          he sai
B:                                         yeah yeah                                                    yeah and you don't

A:                                                                        no not at all but it was like he's saying
B:  have quite but you don't have the same thing at all

A: to me like I want to r hear this Manchester accent rather than this but I said well this
B:                                                                                                  yeah

A: isn't our accent I said so that's strange innit like
B:                              yeah

 

Transcription key

[xxx?] = transcriber unsure of details; xxx is the best guess
. = pause of less than one second

Topics for discussion

Having listened to the recording and read the transcript, have a go at the questions below.

1. What do you think are the functions of the interruptions that speaker B makes?
2. What evidence is there in this extract that speakers do or do not speak in what are commonly called 'sentences'?
3. What features of this conversation strike you as typical of informal conversation?   Are there features which make it atypical?
4. Transcribe the rest of the conversation based on what you hear in the sound file.  How could you improve on the transcription provided here?  What other information would you add, and how would you mark this in a transcription key?
5. With the agreement of your friends and family, make some further recordings of informal conversation.  What problems did you encounter trying to transcribe natural speech?  What conversational patterns emerge across the recordings?
6. Based on the evidence from this recording, what does you know mean?  Why is harder to answer that question than it is to answer the question "What do music, listening and strange mean?"