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rebbel's avatar

Is there a name for the vocal wording of a quoted sentence? [Details inside].

Asked by rebbel (35553points) February 20th, 2012

What I mean is this: “She is not wearing a wedding ring.”
This sentence being said by a robot, it should have a robotic sound to it.
How do we call the sound-words/-wording in a quoted sentence like the one above if there is a name for it in the first place?
Side question: how do we call a part of grammar/writing that describes a certain method?
(I used “Is there a name for the wording of a quoted sentence?”)
You may have noticed that I already have difficulty to describe what I exactly mean, so I hope that this question is clear enoughh.
Fluther being populated with clever Jellies I am sure that there a few amongst you that understand!

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16 Answers

Mariah's avatar

Inflection? Is that what you’re after?

auhsojsa's avatar

Implied Characterization? ::Terminator Voice:: Get ovah here naaaaoooow!

Zaku's avatar

Words for various aspects of “the way someone says something” include:

inflection
emphasis
tone
intonation

Jeruba's avatar

I don’t think you mean wording, @rebbel, but manner of delivery. Wording would be the choice and arrangement of the words.

In English we would use adverbs, adverbial phrases, vivid verbs, dialogue tags, and dialogue beats to convey the sound of the words. Our languages are enough alike that I have to guess it must be much the same in yours. How would you accomplish this in Dutch?

thorninmud's avatar

Prosody- “In phonetics, the use of pitch, loudness, tempo, and rhythm in speech to convey information about the structure and meaning of an utterance.”

rebbel's avatar

@All I will Wikipedia all your suggestions. Thanks!
@Jeruba The thing is, I can use/speak Dutch, but my knowledge of the grammar of Dutch is abominable.
I found that out the last three years when my girlfriend asked me to learn her my language and I was not able to do so.
Manner of delivery sounds like the thing I look for too.
Thank you!
Thank you too, @thorninmud!
Edit: Prosody is exactly what I meant although I have to let the text of the Wiki page sink in for a night :-).

6rant6's avatar

Affect?

HungryGuy's avatar

Jon and his wife, with their medical supplies in hand, approached the robot standing by the airlock door that was the entrance to the Mormon ring of the station.

“We need to speak to the pastor about the plague,” said Jon. “May we enter?”

The robot glanced at Jon’s wife and replied in a monotone metallic voice, “She is not wearing a wedding ring.”

Jeruba's avatar

Prosody as defined here by @thorninmud is a vocal effect: the way you say something in speech to convey additional meaning to the hearer (beyond the literal content of the words themselves). I thought you were speaking of how you describe it in writing so as to convey to the reader the way it sounds.

rebbel's avatar

I am glad that you wrote that piece, @HungryGuy, because I forgot to mention in my question details that I don’t want to write “He said in his manly, grasping voice:.....” before I would write “Get off of my roof!”

rebbel's avatar

@Jeruba I have to ‘study’ all the suggestions, I just realized.
I already get confused in my own words and thoughts….. ;-)

Jeruba's avatar

Just clarify quickly, please: are you talking about how you describe speech analytically (scientifically) or how you characterize it in writing (for example, in a story)?

rebbel's avatar

@Jeruba Okay, I’ll try.
Here goes: Lets say I want to write a sentence in which Fran Drescher states that she bought a great dress.
“Guess what I bought…., this fantastic dress!”
How would I word it, how would I emphasize certain words (or certain letters in certain words), what do I do to certain words, so that a reader would think it likely/possible that Miss Drescher is talking?
Edit: And more important for me: how do we call this ‘thing’?

Jeruba's avatar

Ok, you’re talking about writing prose for a reader and not making a linguistic analysis.

I think you’ll find some pertinent information on the page I linked and on many others that treat the same subject matter: i.e., handling dialogue as an aspect of writing.

rebbel's avatar

Thank again.

ninjacolin's avatar

Not all things have definitions. Sometimes you have to coin a word.

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