122 A Grammar of Spoken English Discourse
satisfi ed. However, satisfaction of the two formal conditions is not enough; an
act of telling is ultimately dependent on whether or not the speaker has satis-
fi ed a communicative need. Hence in order to identify an increment in speech
it is fi rst necessary to ensure that the formal conditions are met and then to see
if the speaker has satisfi ed a communicative need. Examples (1) and (2) illus-
trate how 2 speakers segmented the same stream of speech differently.
(1) you can \/SEE this // you can see it in /KASHmir for example //
N V V' N N V V' N P N phr
you can SEE it in \CHECHnya // [T2-Bc12]^8
N V V' N P N #(2) you can \↑SEE this // you can \SEE it // in \KASHmir // for e\XAMple
N V V' N # N V V' P N PHR
// you can SEE it in \↑CHECHnya // you /KNOW // [T2-Bs10-12]
# N V V' N P N CON #In examples (1) and (2) the readers have successfully completed three runs
through the chaining rules but as Bc does not produce a falling tone unit until
the third run through of the chaining rules he produces only one potential
increment which was judged to satisfy a communicative need. Bc only achieves
target stare when he tells that in addition to the existence of the terror and
hatred and its presence in Kashmir it is simultaneously present in Chechyna! Bs
produces at least one falling tone within each successful run through of the
chaining rules and as a result he produces three potential increments. As each
successful run through of the chaining rules was judged to satisfy a commun-
icative need, he has produced three increments. The fi rst results in a target
state where the speaker has moved the discourse to a point where the hearer’s
circumstances have been modifi ed by the telling that people can see the result of
the terror and hatred; the second increment tells a location where the terror and
hatred can be seen: the third increment identifi es a further location for the terror
and hatred. Examples 3 and 4 illustrate how differing speaker perceptions
result in differences in the placement of increment boundaries.
(3) but it is ↑NOT a REAson for walking a/WAY // it s a REAson for
c N V a d N P NPHR N V d N P
STAYing the \COURSE // and STAYing it no matter HOW TOUGH
N+ d N # c N+ N+ phr W E
it \ IS // [T2-Jt-44–45]
N V Ø #