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Abstract :
[en] We present the preliminary findings of a multilingual study on speech errors (‘lapsus linguae’ Meringer and Mayer 1895; Freud, 1901; Meringer, 1908). For the purpose of this presentation, we compiled and analyzed a corpus of video-recordings of twenty short sequences of talk in French, and twenty short sequences of talk in English; all containing mis-performances in oral delivery on behalf of TV hosts and presenters. While briefly discussing previous work and existing models for the classification of errors (Meringer and Mayer 1895; Freud, 1901; Fromkin, 1971, 1973; Dell, Juliano, and Govindjee, 1993; Dziekońska, 2012); we take a multimodal look at the sequential environment of errors in our corpus and analyze whether and how they are ‘acknowledged’ and are ‘repaired’ (Sacks, 1964; Sacks Schegloff, Jefferson, 1977). A close analysis of speakers’ face work reveals that, although not universally, they consistently place a brow raise on the ‘repaired’ material. At times, the lapsus is ‘acknowledged’ with the production of a response cry (Goffman, 1981), in which case, the brow raise is placed on the cry. Regardless of the response cry occurring synchronically with the brow raise; we discuss that it is possible to think of the brow raise as of a ‘change of state token’, (Heritage, 1984b; Schegloff, 2007); thus embodying the local change in speakers’ “state of knowledge, information, orientation or awareness” (Heritage, 1985: 299). Data also suggest a brow raise following the lapse, may transit from emotional display (i.e. surprise – Ekman, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) to face-keeping device. Different gestural and postural configurations may occur depending on whether the error is promptly repaired (i.e. straight positioning of the ‘body torque’- Schegloff, 1998) or whether develops into a laughter (i.e. presence of ‘self-adapters’ - Ekman, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006).