Correlation between prosodic and nonverbal means in German political discourse: The role of the gender factor

Abstract

The research aims to identify the role of the gender aspect in the interaction of prosodic characteristics and accentuating gestures in the speech of Bundestag members. To attain the set aim, a theoretical analysis was conducted, as well as an experimental phonetic study, which included the consideration of such prosodic characteristics as fundamental frequency, sound signal intensity, and average syllable duration. For studying speakers’ nonverbal characteristics, accentuating gestures accompanying their speech were analyzed. The scientific novelty of the research is expressed in the possibility of establishing a correlation between gender and multimodal (prosodic and nonverbal) speech features of a group of German politicians. The research findings show the presence of gender differences in this area. In the speech of male politicians, there is a higher frequency of nonverbal means compared to that of women. In the speech of both men and women, typical prosodic models were identified, such as “fundamental frequency + sound signal intensity” and “fundamental frequency + sound signal intensity + average syllable duration”, correlating with accentuating gestures.

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About this article

Publication history

• Received: July 12, 2024.
• Published: October 30, 2024.

Keywords

• корреляция просодии и невербальных средств
• гендерный аспект в политическом дискурсе
• акцентирующие жесты
• correlation between prosody and nonverbal means
• gender aspect in political discourse
• accentuating gestures

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)