Momentary tongue protrusion in spontaneous speech

Abstract

Momentary tongue protrusion (MTP) is a micro-mimic discursive sign which in some cases is functionally similar to the hesitation pause. However, MTP is of a more complex nature than hesitation pauses. While hesitation often hinders comprehension, the addressee is indifferent to MTP: it is not normally noticed. MTP is considered to be a product of accumulation of the sender's psychological discomfort. It is an act of relief from excitement. MTP is a source of information about the sender's feelings at the moment of speech. MTP may be manifested both in situations where no punctuation in writing is required (in cases of tip-of-the-tongue states or slips) as well as where it is obligatory. Variants of MTP collected under the present study are divided into three groups, depending on potential vehicles of expression. The fact that MTP can link counterposed stances at the level of different participants' conversational turn-taking, as well as integrate loud speech and silent response into a unifed text, allows us to regard it as a means of micro-mimic structuring of vertical discursive rapports. MTP is equivalent to the unsaid, or to the unsayable due to external or internal reasons. It marks the individual's condition of intensive internal dialogue