Laughing is one of the few things that people do simultaneously in conversation (cf. Sacks 1992:571, Vol. II). A "fundamentally social activity" (Glenn 1989:126), laughter usually occurs in the presence of others and is most enjoyed when others participate. In fact, not only is it acceptable to laugh together, but solo laughter is often suspect (cf. Edmonson 1987:29)
This paper will examine the uses of laughter and its functions in conversation, specifically laughter as it occurs within a second-language setting. It will also consider the relationship between laughter and the notion of "face." Various examples of laughter from a Dominican Spanish conversation involving native speakers (NSs) and myself, a non-native speaker (NNS) of Spanish, are classified and analyzed within a framework adapted from Labov and Fanshel (1977), Glenn (1987) and Brown and Levinson (1987). It will be demonstrated that the context in which laughter occurs as well as the relationship between the parties involved must be taken into account when attempting to analyze the laughter in a conversation.
Data for this project were collected in the city of Santiago in the Dominican Republic during the summer of 1991.1 I stayed with the L family for four weeks and was able to come to know them fairly well and feel quite comfortable in my surroundings. The majority of my interaction was with M, the mother, since she did not work outside the home. But I also spent much time around and shared a room with the two girls, Mon (age 15) and C1 (age 10). Their brother, M1 (age 17), and I crossed paths mostly at mealtimes and occasionally during the evenings. The head of household, JM, and I share a common bond in our Aggie heritage, and we spent many hours swapping stories of good times in Aggieland. Although his job kept bim occupied most of the time during the week, he did come home regularly for noon meals. It was around the dinner table that the entire family was united to share the happenings in their daily lives. The conversation that comprises the data for this analysis is one that took place just before lunch one day.
Laughter is one of several uniquely human traits, together with others such as language and tool-making (Apte 1985). While there is some controversy about whether laughter is innate or learned behavior, it is undisputed that smiling and laughing transcend all cultural boundaries. People in all cultures smile and laugh, albeit for a variety of reasons. There are universal tendencies for laughter as well as a variety of culture-specific stimuli.
The notion of Laughter in our culture is most immediately associated with humor. Although the two concepts are often intertwined, certainly not all laughter is humorous, nor does every humorous event evoke laughter (cf. Berlyne 1969, Chapman and Foot 1976). Laughter can be viewed as a behavior, while humor is a tradition, "intimately and predictably related to cultural values" (Edmonson 1952:5). Laughter is a situational response, while laughter-producing situations are strongly rooted in cultural traditions.
The central sound feature of laughter is aspiration /h/ reiterated or combined with a limited range of other sounds. Laughter can occur with the mouth closed /m/, half open /n/ or totally open /h/, and these sounds may be accompanied by glottalization /'m/, /'n/ or /'h/ (Edmonson 1987). The laughter consonants can be~accom~anied by a variety of vowels - from the high from vowel [i] through [e], [ae], [schwa], [a], [?] , [o] to the high back vowel [u] (Apte 1985:251) - or by a vocalic nasal, /~/ or /~/, all of which are subject to varying degrees of length, pitch and stress. This is congruent with the characteristics of non-words which include 1) the lack of a canonical correct spelling and 2) heights of pitch foreign to ordinary speech (Goffman 1981:112ff)
Laughter is one manifestation of a complex network of emotions (Gregory 1924:4) that can be displayed in a variety of manners. A "non-verbal expressive act...confined to non- linguistic vocal and breathing sounds and to the operation of the facial features, [laughter isJ often accompanied by physical gesticulations (Hertzler 1970:37). Its sounds grade into one another without fixed boundaries: chuckles, giggles, laughs and guffaws, with a myriad of sounds in between, each with its own meaning (Burling 1992:370).
There are a variety of laugh patterns including 1) mild laughter - often monosyllabic and of brief duration, 2) real amusement - involving less glottalization and normally lasting more than one second and 3) intense laughter - several sequential utterances separated by gasping for breath. These sounds "encode a range of interpretable messages, feigned or sincere, revealing and sometimes involuntary~ (Edmonson 1987:26ff). furthermore, laughter might be considered as "one among various sorts of non-speech sounds ... which occur during, and might constitute possible disruptions of, ongoing talk." But it can be "distinguished from other non-speech sounds in that it has, for participants, the status of an official conversational activity" (Jefferson, Sacks and Schegloff 1987:155-156).
Conversation is a continuous activity in which people are expected to demonstrate that they are talking to each other about the same things. Participants in conversation are required not only to construct sentences but also "to coordinate, in a meaningful fashion, their talk with the talk of others present" (Goodwin 1981:ix). Conversation is regulated by turns. Usually only one person talks at a time; if two people do begin speaking at once, one usually drops out. Interlocutors tend to alternate turns at certain intenrals known as transition relevance places (TRPs), making for a smooth exchange of talk.
These norms form part of the "competences that ordinary speakers use and rely on in participating in everyday conversation" (Atkinson and Heritage 1984:1). Although participants do not usually think about norms or "rules" when they are engaged in conversation, they naturally observe some semblance of orãer so that their comments will be understood.
Most conversations tend to abide by the Cooperative Principle (Grice 1975:47):
Make your contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose of the talk exchange in which you are engaged,
and its four Conversational Maxims:
1) Maxim of Quantity - Make your contribution as informative as is required but not more informative than is necessary.
2) Maxim of Quality - Do not say what you belive to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
3) Maxim of Relation - Make your contribution relevant.
4) Maxim of Manner - Be perspicuous, and specifically avoid obscurity;
avoid ambiguity, be brief and be orderly.
Although conversations do generally operate within a collaborative framework, interlocutors do not strictly adhere to these maxims. In fact, from time to speakers flagrantly and obviously violate one or more of the maxims; these violations can sometimes be humorous and/or result in laughter.
Though laughter has now attained official conversational status (Jefferson, Sacks and Schegloff 1987:156), it has only been recognized as a valid area of study during recent years. fact, many participants in and students of conversation still "find it reasonable and adequate to describe laughter by noticing that it has occurred and not much more" (Jefferson 1985:27). It is difficult to imagine that this vital feature was overlooked for so long:
Conversational laughter, commonplace and trivial as it may seem, proves enormously important in the moment-by-moment creation and ratification of a variety of interactional activities which constitute our social world (Glenn 1991:156-157)
Laughter may enter a conversation in a variety of ways:
1) Laughter may be offered by the speaker.
Speaker laughter, "the occasional brief laughs speakers intermingle with their utterances" (Cox 1982:3), may be used to indicate that something funny is coming up, to initiate shared laughter or to express a speaker's attitude about what is being said. Regardless, its position is crucial; it cannot be postponed without losing its effectiveness. (Glenn 1989; Sacks 1992, Vol I). Furthermore, its placement can invite or dissuade a hearer's response (Sacks 1992:275, Vol II)
Jefferson's 1979 study reveals the following responses to speaker laugh~er: 1) recipient laughter, 2) recipient silence, and 3) recipient non-laughing speech which are further detailed below. Recipient laughter (in response to speaker laughter) constitutes acceptance of a "laugh invitation." Recipient silence may indicate a misunderstanding of the utterance by the speaker or may generate further pursuit of laughter by the speaker. Recipient non-laughing speech declines the speaker's laugh invitation and allows the conversation to continue.
2) Laughter may be produced voluntarily by recipients.
Not at all random, laughter is strategically located at a TRP,
"a legitimate and expectable place for a recipient to respond
in the course of an ongoing utterance" (Jefferson 1979:81).
A striking feature of laughter is that it is "tied in a most
powerful way to the immediately prior utterance" (Schenkein
1972:365). When a participant wishes to respond to, comment about
or elaborate on what the current speaker is saying, laughter can
provide the perfeat opportunity to latch on to the very next turn
and to occupy a slot that might have been reserved for another
speaker. Thus, laughter can be used as an effective means of taking
the floor in conversation. This is an important feature, since
the next turn in conversation is usually a highly sought-after
commodity.
3) Laughter may be picked up by overhearers.
Interactional, or shared laughter, can occur even if the current speaker does not participate, being picked up by overhearers or other conversational participants. Moreover, shared laughter may be prolonged, causing a time-out from normal conversation, and leaving the floor open to any speaker:
Free of syntactic and semantic constraints, laughter may be produced in various forms by different speakers in overlap and yet be heard as a coherent, shared achievement (Glenn 1989:146).
"Face" (Brown & Levinson 1987) is an important social
factor to be considered in the analysis of laughter. Negative
face is the desire to be unimpeded in one's actions; positive
face is the desire for approval. Depending upon the context of
the situation, laughter can be interpreted in one of two ways.
one hand, it can be a positive, uplifting addition to a conversation;
on the other, it can be construed as one of a number of 'face-threatening
acts' which run contrary to the desires of either the speaker
or hearer.
Acts which might threaten the negative face of the hearer include orders and requests; suggestions and advice; reminders; warnings and threats; offers; promises; compliments and expressions of strong (negative) emotions. Thanking, making excuses, accepting offers, responding to faux ~as, and mitigating can offend the speaker's negative face.
Disapproval, criticism or ridicule; contradictions or disagreement; challenges; expressions of violent emotions, mention of taboo topics and blatant non-cooperation may threaten the positive face of the hearer. Causing possible damage to the speaker's positive face are apologizing, accepting compliments, confessing, losing emotional or physical control and self- humi liation.
In any given situation, laughter could be used to fulfill or to ease any of these functions. However, the dynamics of an interaction must be considered when assessing face.
The social nature of laughter helps to establish an individual within a group. This is compatible with Willis' (1965) definition of conformity of "behavior intended to fulfill normative group expectations." People tend to laugh because others are laughing, to maintain group loyalty or to gain group acceptance (Giles and Oxford 1970:97ff)
Laughter exhibits a wide range of emotions on a continuum from negative to positive. Laughter has a dark side and can be used to ridicule, to turn the tables on, to make uneasy, or to cause trouble for (Schenkein 1972). Furthermore, laughter can show nervousness, embarrassment, relief from fear or misery, or express feelings about the bad fortune of others (Norrick 1993). Laughter can also be used to interrupt the current speaker in order to reinterpret or contradict what has just been said.
Speaker laughter is often used to boast, to challenge or to make emotionally-laden or humorous statements. Boasts allow for bragging about one's own abilities; challenges are less likely to occur in cohesive groups; emotionally-laden comments are often perceived as threatening, and humor is somewhat irreverent. Each of these categories "appears to violate or push against conversational norms" (Cox 1982:9). Speaker laughter can also be used to self-deprecate or to make oneself the object of laughter, to recount a laughable attributed to someone else or to indicate the non-seriousness of an utterance. It may also be used as a mitigating device to extricate oneself from interactional difficulties or to smooth over an otherwise difficult situation (Glenn 1991)
On a more positive note, laughter is commonly used as a backchannelling device to reinforce or respond to the current speaker, lending support and agreement to what is being said. It can be used in a joking manner to tease and can display intimacy or frame an interaction as playful (Glenn 1987)
Shared laughter functions as a marker of solidarity that displays like-mindedness among speakers (Glenn 1989) and "mutual coorientation towards the laughable object, action or utterance" (Glenn 1991:139). Other functions of interactive laughter are 1) to regulate temporal and structural aspects of surrounding conversation; 2) to convey meaning by substituting for lexical constructions; 3) to carry implicit messages which affect the interaction on a more metacommunicative level (Plummer 1991), 4) to serve as a topic-ending indicator (Howe 1991). Also, shared laughter can contain information about the content, the interpersonal relationships, and/or the personal or emotional nature of an ongoing relationship between individuals or as a member of the group.
Table 1 (adapted from Labov and Fanshel 1977, Glenn 1987 and Brown and Levinson 1987) offers a classification of laughter into several domains and functions. The numbers refer to examples which are discussed below:
| Domain | Supportive Functions | Seemingly Non-Supportive or Distancing Functions |
| Metalinguistic | backchannel
respond (1) reinforce (2,3) | interrupt |
| Evaluative | agree
interpret (4) support (5,6) | disagree
challenge (7) reinterpret contradict (8) |
| Joking | claim common ground
tease (9) confirm in-group identity (10) | indicate non-acceptance or
inappropriate nature of utterance |
A critical step in understanding the functions of laughter is "determination of actions that are being performed by speakers through their utterances" (Labov and Fanshel 1977:60), The ensuing sections will further develop each domain and provide examples of the various functions.
One of the functions of laughter is concerned with the regulation of speech itself, This includes backchannelling functions such as responding, reinforcing, interrupting, etc. Speakers engage in metalinguistic actions when they are doing something other than merely "taking their turn" (Labov and Fanshel 1977:60)
In many instances, laughter can serve as a turn-taking cue: laughter may mark a temporary end to speaking so that talk can be resumed only after the bulk of the laughter has subsided. Tagged laughter may also serve as a post-unit-completion device which that acoustically highlights a first speaker's TRP, rendering a second speaker's self-selection more probable (O'Donnell-Trujillo and Adams 1983:184ff).
Below is an example of laughter used by the hearer to respond
to a speaker's utterance:
Example 1 --
22 S: ¡Qué vestido!=
23 C: =M(hhh)mm=
24 S: =¡Qué piernita!
25 C: [ ehahaha
And here are two instances of laughter used as reinforcement:
Example 2 --
65 S: Ese ladrón! Heheheheh
66 C: [ ehihihi
67 JM: [ Heheheh
68 M: [ ehaha...woo-hoo!
Example 3 --
133 JM: [ Heheh..eso es un garrote.
134 M: [ Heheh, garrote.
Examples 1-3 have demonstrated how laughter functions as a backchannelling device in this conversation to further enhance its positive qualities.
This category encompasses a class of acts where the hearer expresses an attitude about what was said, including agreement in the forms of interpretation and support, or disagreement in the forms of contradiction, reintelrpretation and challenge.
Laughter can be used by the speaker as an instruction about how to hear. The laughter tells the hearer how a particular utterance should be interpreted, e.g. the laughter indicates irony, sarcasm, facetiousness, embarrassment, disdain, amusement, qualification, príde, non-literalness, etc. I~ can also serve as a display of hearership -- the hearer indicates that an utterance was heard and how it was heard (O'Donnell-Trujillo and Adams 1983:184ff; Goffman 1981:12).
Laughter is used by C to interpret (not to laugh at) M's expression
of <<YOW!>> as having bumed her tongue when tasting
whatever she was cooking: Example 4 --
17 M: ??????? de pus. ¡A probarla! Ay, chilá. . . << ¡ YOW ! >>
18 C: [ ehihihi
Support, offering concidence of thought and attitude (cf. Schenkein 1972:371), can be seen in these instances of shared laughter:
Example 5 --
106 M: Yo te cuido, yo te cuido...hahaha
107 C: [ ehihihihi
108 Mon: [ Uheh
109 M: [ ??? Con un pedazo de palo, heheh. Estoy Ilegando de noche de la universidad. No quiero problemas. Si alguien trata (hhh)de hahaha
110 C1: [ ehuhuhuh
111 M: [ haha
112 S: [ eheheh
113 M: [ defenderme...
114 S: [ Heheheh
115 M: [ Parece que tú te ibas(hhh)a acabar con alguien, heheh.
116 S: Bueno. ??? Heh heh. ???
117 C1: [ ehihihi
Example 6 --
150 JM: [ Nohombre..Los mexicanos sí hablan cantando porque dicen, "ándale..."
151 S: U(hhh)uh.
Laughter as disagreement includes several of a set of negative terms which throw doubt on the proposition that the other person endorses. Included in this grouping are actions such as questions, contradictions and challenges (Labov and Fanshel 1977:64)
This excerpt demonstrates how laughter is used to contradict what has been said. JM is explaining the term sarrote while S notes with laughter that she knows that something sarcastic is about to follow. It should be noted, however, that the laughter is not intended to be threatening in any way whatsoever.
Example 7 --
138 JM: Es como la política que usaba que parecia simpático
139 S: [ heheh
140 JM: [ con los otros países pero tenía un garrote
hinchado cuando descuidaban.
Laughter in this instance represents a challenge on the part of the speaker, S, who is critical of the local phone company's "gift" of seven hours of service per month before beginning to charge on a per-minute basis:
Example 8 --
160 S: [ ¿Pero de:larga distancia o...?
161 M: No, local.
162 S: [ Sh (hhh)i t. ¿Sietre horas? No(hhh)o.
Examples 4-8 illustrate both supportive laughter (4-6) and
laughter used to disagree (7-8). However, the overall positive
tone of the interaction causes the disagreement to be non-
threatening.
The use of laughter in the joking domain particularly highlights the operation of positive politeness in which the wants and desiLes of speaker(s) and hearer(s) coincide (Brown and Levinson 1987:101ff). In this instance, laughter is frequently used as a marker of group solidarity. The examples below show the use of some strategies of positive politeness including 1) teasing in a manner that stresses shared background or shared values and 2) using slang or jargon to confirm in-group identity.
Here, S gets teased by several others, and her error is celebrated with shared laughter. It should be noted that at no time did S feel threatened by the fact that she was being teased or corrected.
Example 9 --
99 S: Uh, favor de:de pararse allá y cuidarme.
100 C: [ ehihihi
101 Mon: [ Heheheh
102 M: [ Hahaha. ¿Favor de pararse allá y cuidarme?
heh heh heh Vigilame desde allí.
Laughter is used by m to acknowledge and "appreciate"
S's use of a mexicanismo:
Example 10 --
141 M: Dale una cachada...
142 S: [ ¡un chinga:zo!/
143 C: [ ehihihihi
144 M: [ ¡AY, AY, AY!
145 JM: Un palo, un chingazo...heheheh
146 M: Mira cómo le gustó...AH:hah
Examples 9-10, falling within the supportive realm, have demonstrated how laughter can be used to tease and to claim or confirm in-group identity.
The data presented here reveal a diversity of functions of laughter in conversation. It may be used by speaker or hearer to respond to, reflect on or embellish what has been said. This conversation illustrated all of the supportive (see examples 1-6, 9 & 10) and some of the apparently non-supportive functions (see examples 7 & 8) of laughter.
The positive nature of the conversation, coupled with noticeable intimacy between the family members and their house guest, caused any seemingly negative functions of laughter to be considered non-threatening. Relationships of positive affect served to break down the separation of £ace and dispel any notion of face-threatening acts. Actions which might otherwise have been viewed as non-supportive or distancing were not found to be so in this conversation among friends.
Since the tone of the interaction helps to define the meaning of laughter, the functions of laughter would not necessarily be distributed in the same way in conversations of a different nature. Proper analysis of laughter's many meanings would require that both context and the relationship between interlocutors be considered.
Endnotes
1 Funding for this trip was courtesy of a Living Abroad Scholarship provided by the Jordan Institute at Texas A&M University .
Atkinson, J. Maxwell and John Heritage (eds ) (1984). Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analvsis. Cambridge: University Press.
Apte, Mahadev L. (1985). Humor and Laughter. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Berlyne, D. E. (1969). Laughter, Humor and Play. In G. Lindzey and E. Aronson (eds.) Handbook of Social Psychology, pp. 795-852. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Brown, Penelope and Stephen C. Levinson (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: University Press.
Burling, Robbins (1992). Patterns of Language. San Diego: Academic Press.
Chapman, A. J. and Foot (eds.) (1976). Humor and Laughter: Theory. Research and Applications. London: Wiley and Sons.
Cox, Martha G. (1982). Accounting for Speaker Laughter - Regularities in the content of utterances "said with a laugh." Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: August 23-27, 1982.
Edmonson, Munro (1987). Notes on laughter. Anthropological Linguistics 29(1) :23-34.
Edmonson, Munro (1952). Los Manitos: Patterns of Humor in Relation to Cultural Values. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Harvard University.
Giles, Howard and G. S. Oxford (1970). Towards a Multi- dimensional Theory of Laughter Causation and Its Social Implication. Bulletin of the British Psvcbolosical Societv 22:97-105.
Glenn, Phillip J. (1991). Current Speaker Initiation of Two-Party Shared Laughter. Research on Language and Social Interaction. 25:139-162.
(1989). Initiating Shared Laughter in Multi-Party Conversations. Western Journal of Speech Communications 53:126-149.
(1987). Laugh and the World Laughs With You: Shared Laughter Sequencing in Conversation. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.
Goffman, Erving (1981) Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goodwin, Charles (1981). Conversational Orsanization: Interaction Between S~eakers and Hearers. New York: Academic Press.
Gregory, J. C. (1924). The Nature of Laughter. London: Kegan Paul.
Grice, H. Paul (1975). Logic and Conversation. In P. Cole and J. L. Morgan (eds). Svntax and Semantics: Vol. 9:_ Pragmatics, pp. 113-128. New York: Academic Press.
Hertzler, Joyce (1970). Laughter: A Socio-Scientific Analvs,is. New York: Exposition Press.
Howe, Mary (1991). Collaboration on Topic Change in Conversation. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics 16:1-14.
Jefferson, Gail (1979). A Technique for Inviting Laughter and its Subsequent Acceptance Declination. In Psathas, George, (ed.) Everyday Language Studies in Ethnomethodology. New York: Irvington.
Jefferson, Gail (1984) On the organization of laughter in talk about troubles. In Atkinson, J. Maxwell and John Heritage (eds.) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analvsis. Cambridge: University Press.
Jefferson, Gail (1985). An exercise in the transcription of laughter. In Van Dijk, T. A. (ed.) Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Vol. III:25-34. New York: Academic Press.
Jefferson, Gail, Harvey Sacks and Emanuel Schegloff (1987). Notes on laughter in the pursuit of intimacy. In G. Button and J. Lee (eds.) Talk and Social Orsanisation, pp. 152-205. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Labov, William and David Fanshel (1977). Therapeutic Discourse. New York: Academic Press.
Norrick, Neal (1993). Conversational Joking. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
O'Donnell-Trujillo, Nick and Katherine Adams (1983). Heheh in Conversation: Some Coordinating Accomplishments of Laughter. Western Journal of Speech Communication 47:175-191.
Plummer, Evelyn J. (1991). We're not laughing at you. we're laughing with vou: An examination.of interactive laughter in five small group conversations. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College.
Sacks, Hanrey (1992). Lectures on Conversation, Volumes I and II. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Schenkein, James N. (1972). Towards an Analysis of Conversation and the Sense of heheh. Semiotica 6:344-377.
Willis, R. H. (1965). The basic response modes of conformity, independence and anti-conformity. Human Relations 18:373-388.
The following transcription conventions are used in presentation
of the data:
[ overlapping utterances
= contiguous utterances
CAPS extremely loud voice
<< >> high-pitched voice
underline singing voice
: pause
, accented syllable
hhh audible aspiration, laughter
ye(hhh)s within-speech aspiration, laughter
heheh laughter
ehihihi laughter
hahaha laughter
ehuhuh laughter
The following is a transcribed excerpt of a multiparty conversation.
Participants include M (mother), JM (father), Mon (older daughter),
C (younger daughter) and S (house guest). The conversation begins
in the kitchen between M and S; later, the others join in.
1 M: Voy a poner éste...esta hoja.
2 S: ¿Qué es?
3 M: La hoja de anís. ???
4 S: [ Parece medicina de curandero.
5 M: [ Ehahaha. Es lo que va ?????
6 S: ¿Se sirve=se sirve así?
7 M: --- (non-verbal?)
(música)...
8 M: Buena ésa...
9 S: Tal vez se fueron::de vacaciones.
10 M: ¿Mmmm?
11 S: ¿Tal vez se fueron de vacaciones?
12 M: No, ellos regresan y salieron. Ellos van a una media hora de camino de aquí que están sus familiares=
13 S: =uh huh=
14 M: =en La Vega. Ellos van regularmente para all% y regresan de noche ya a acostarse.
Ay, ;'tá caliente! Voy a poner ésto
15 C: ???
16 S: ¿Qué eS? ¿Otra hoja de anís?
17 M: ??????? de pus. ¡A probarla! Ay, chilá. . . << ¡ YOW ! >>
18 C: [ ehihihi
19 M: [ Anda, Claudia, ¿se han venido? Ve cómo se ??? tienda la ropa afuera. Tal vez la lavadora lavada ya. Ay, que no me acordaba, para que la lleve limpia papá que no quiero que Ileve la ropa sucia. Tiéndela afuera. Este, abre la puerta y la tiendes. Yo quiero que é1 Ileve la ropa limpia. ¿No ves a nadie? Voy a añadir...Tocaron en el vidrio y yo vi la sombra ahí.
20 JM: OK. ¿Bon apetit?
21 M: No.
22 S: ¡Qué vestido!=
23 C: =M(hhh)mm=
24 S: =¡Qué piernita!
25 C: [ ehahaha
26 M: Parece muslito de polio.
27 Mon: Eso es ???
28 JM: Fea.
29 M: Fea del carajo pero tiene un cuerpo...
30 Mon: Eso es ???
31 C: [ Mami...
32 M: ¿Qué?
33 C: Han venido yá.
34 M: Está Como ??? pero tiene el cuerpo???
¿Qué vestido, qué piernita!=
35 S: =ehuh
36 Mon: ??? Yo veo un, un cuerpo y un cabello large que yo ??? con una colita. Todo ??? un hombre ???
37 JM: Igualito a nicaragüense ése que está casado
38 M: Ah, no, no es tan bonito. ¿Cómo es que se Ilama?
39 Mon: ???
40 JM: Tiene que ser un pajarón ???
41 M: ????? (cantando) ay nya nya ???
Sí, señor. ??? todos pajaritos a ti te gustan
Oye, Porque tú ???
42 S: ¡Mira esa rubia!
43 JM: ¡Wow!
44 M: Esa rubia ???
45 Mon: No me gustan...???
46 S: ??
47 M: ¿Cuándo vas al campo de golf?
48 JM: En la tarde/
49 M: /¿en la tarde?:: Me gustaría ir contigo.
(Door opens)
50 M: ¿La tendieron toda, mi hija?
51 Mon: Sí
52 M: Afuera...a recogerla por la mañana...para La Vega van por la mañana cuando yo me levanto.
53 JM: ???
54 M: Con quién se va ella ahora? Los lleva: a la linea de carros. ???
55 JM: ¿Cuándo=hoy?
56 M: No, ¿cuándo fue que tu papa Ilamá ayer?
57 JM: ¿Por qué crees que ??? ¿Quién? ???
58 M: ???
59 JM: ¿Qué?
60 M: Ahora yo le pregunt~
61 JM: ¿Por qué te quieres ir?
62 Mon: Voy a Ilorar. Yo voy a Ilorar.
63 M: Ay, jqué feo!
64 C: Ay. no.
65 S: Ese ladrón! Heheheheh
66 C: [ ehihihi
67 JM: [ Heheheh
68 M: [ ehaha...woo-hoo!
69 Mon: ???
70 JM: Así me pongo cuando me pongo a tomar ron.
71 C: ???
72 S: iAH: Texas Tornadoes! Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm...
73 JM: [ Freddy Fender...
74 M: Sabes montar a caballo, (pause) Stuart?
75 S: He montado a caballo varios, varias veces.
76 JM: (cantando ) vaqueros para el corral.. arriando todo, todito el ganado...
77 M: ???
78 JM: Freddy Fender cantando ???
79 C: Heheheh. A la primera?
80 M: Se fue él a dormir
81 S: No, se iba a casar.
82 ?: ¿Pero eso está igual...
8 M: Parece un traje de boda
84 S: ¿Verdad? Bueno, pues, heheheh
85 C: [ ehihihi
86 Mon: [ heheheheh
87 M: Qué es ésto? Heheheh Mira, pues hecho.
88 C: [ ehihihi
89 S: Anda Ilorando.
90 ?: Gracias mami, gracias papi.
91 S: Con su traje de boda.
92 M: Uh-huh. Si aparece el novio a la iglesia una vez ya listo...
93 C: Y él va a Ilorar.
94 ?: Gracias papi, gracias Tato.
95 C: No podia hablar más.
96 JM: (cantando)
97 S: Cuando andaba regresando de noche de la universidad el otro día, cuando el guardián me dejó salir de la puerta, me dijo, me dijo, uh, "Mucho cuidao. ¡Hay mucho ladrón por aqui!"
98 M: ¡AY, Di:os mí:o! Cualquiera se puede ??? heheh Y ¿qué, qué se le dijiste?
99 S: Uh, favor de:de pararse allá y cuidarme.
100 C: [ ehihihi
101 Mon: [ Heheheh
102 M: [ Hahaha. ¿Favor de pararse allá y cuidarme? heh heh heh Vigilame desde allí.
103 S: Y lo hizo.
104 M: ¿Sí?
105 S: Uh huh. Y andaba con palo grande.
106 M: Yo te cuido, yo te cuido...hahaha
107 C: [ ehihihihi
108 Mon: [ Uheh
109 M: [ ??? Con un pedazo de palo, heheh. Estoy Ilegando de noche de la universidad. No quiero problemas. Si alguien trata (hhh)de hahaha
110 C1: [ ehuhuhuh
111 M: [ haha
112 S: [ eheheh
113 M: [ defenderme...
114 S: [ Heheheh
115 M: [ Parece que tú te ibas(hhh)a acabar con alguien, heheh.
116 S: Bueno. ??? Heh heh. ???
117 C1: [ ehihihi
118 S: ???
119 Mon: ???
120 M: Hay que estar preparada ???
121 S: Uh huh. ¿Darle golpes, heh heh, CON GANAS!
122 M: Eso es un garrote=lo que tú traías. ¿Sabes qué es un garrote?
123 C1: [ Mami..
124 S: ¿Qué?
125 M: Ese palo se llama un garrote.
126 S: ¿Garrote?
127 C1: [ Mami..
128 M: Y le caen agarrotazos.
129 S: [ Heheheheheh
130 C: ???
131 JM: [ El palo que tenía el Presidente Roosevelt
132 S: [ heheheh Walk softly and carry a big heh stick heheheh
133 JM: [ Heheh..eso es un garrote.
134 M: [ Heheh, garrote.
135 C: [ ¿Mamí?
136 M: Dime.
137 C: ???
138 JM: Es como la política que usaba que parecia simpático
139 S: [ heheh
140 JM: [ con los otros países pero tenía un garrote hinchado cuando descuidaban.
141 M: Dale una cachada...
142 S: [ ¡un chinga:zo!/
143 C: [ ehihihihi
144 M: [ ¡AY, AY, AY!
145 JM: Un palo, un chingazo...heheheh
146 M: Mira cómo le gustó...AH:hah
147 C: [ Mami. Habla ella como hablaba Wanda..ehihihi...Se parece como hablaba Wanda.
148 JM: (cantando a la mexicana...) Nohombre
149 M: [ Nohombre
150 JM: [ Nohombre..Los mexicanos sí hablan cantando porque dicen, "ándale..."
151 S: U(hhh)uh.
ABRUPT TOPIC SHIFT...
152 M: ??? Van a dar nada más cada mes siete horas de conversaci6n por lo que tú pagas. Y después todo lo de ahí y en adelante...
153 JM: [ Pero hay otra
154 M: [ ...por cada minute
155 JM: [ compañia que se va a establecer ya dentro que no será un monopolio.
156 M: Uh huh. Esto también me dijo Yolanda. Y que si:si la otra da mejores condiciones y no fuñe tanto=va a perder ??? mucho
157 JM: [ pero siete horas de conversación por mes es mucho tiempo...
158 M: Pues, si aquí debe conversarase de 20 o a 30 horas al mes=
159 JM: =No, no debe ser.
160 S: [ ¿Pero de:larga distancia o...?
161 M: No, local.
162 S: [ Sh (hhh)i t. ¿Sietre horas? No(hhh)o.
163 C: [ ???
164 Mon: [ ???
165 JM: [ Y cada conversación por cada minute. Yo voy a guitar el teléfono si se sigue asi que no puedo llamar aquí nunca .
166 S: Hay que conseguir "call waiting," entonces.
167 JM: ¿Cómo es?
168 S: Call waiting...heheheh
169 JM: [ ¿Cómo se hace?
170 S: Parece como dos lineas=
171 M: =dos lineas=
172 S: =con un número=
173 M: =con un número. Claro. Sí, éso es lo que tenemos que hacer...