(in German)

After every interval there must be a space!

1. speaker (named according to Sigle, e.g. DEmo09FD; type: transcription)
2. possibly Comment (communication between transcribers; type: description; information about this level disappears later)

• segmentation according to communication units (CU) more information here
  • rule of thumb: independent sentences represent a CU. Dependent sentences (verb at the end) represent a CU with the respective independent sentence.
  • written data files: the subject's punctuation is taken into account. If a dependent sentence is distinguished from the independent part by the placing of a dot, the dependent sentence is considered a CU.
• no accentuation
• no punctuation

1. linguistic material that refers to the task such as inquiries from subjects and possibly interruptions by researchers is marked in the following way: <Q> communication with elicitor </Q> and receives an own event.
2. strict use of small initial letters
3. predominantly orthographic transcription according to German spelling regulations
4. BUT: transcribe according to ear in cases that do NOT comply with the general standard of spoken language! Don't leave out or add anything.
   • this includes for instance: nich vs. nicht, kein vs. keinen, jetz vs. jetzt, n vs. ein, is vs. ist, ne vs. eine, ma vs. mal, was vs. etwas, brauch vs. braucht, rum vs. herum, ham vs. haben, isch vs. ich
   • when the complete ending is omitted (-en and not only Schwa), e.g. gesprung, angefang, dein
   • dialectal, sociolectal and ethnolectal variation is put into writing (not extremely precise)
5. standard phenomena of spoken language that will NOT be transcribed but will follow German orthography are:
   • omission of vowels in final syllable / deletion of Schwa: always written orthographically (sehn = sehen, machn = machen)
   • devoicing in final position (e.g. bald not balt)
   • word final er (e.g. koffer not koffa)
   • word final g as ch (e.g. König not könich)
   • ä stays ä (e.g. später not speta)
   • sch in connection with sp/st is noted as sp/st
   • simplification from pf to f is not noted
   • v and f are used according to spelling regulations
   • diphthongs are used according to spelling regulations
   • individual words: eigentlich, irgendwie
6. the metalanguage is English (everything that is not produced by speakers, e.g. non-verbal)

A list of individual choices regarding spelling can be found here

• Don't leave anything out that is spoken. Don't add anything that is not spoken.
• no apostrophes as signs of omission

onomatopoeia/echoisms:

• individual tokens (e.g. gutschi gutschi gutschi)
• unless they are very short - then together (z.B. eieiei)

sequences, repetitions, discontinuities

• transcribe as audibly perceived, don't leave anything out
• mark the discontinuity of words with /
• word internal discontinuity shall be marked such that the discontinued element is bracketed by dollar signs, e.g. dipl: Kinder$gar$ wagen

fusional forms

• fusional forms (reduction + quick addition) are marked by an equal sign (e.g. is=er, ham=se, so=ne)

• preposition + article fusions are not additionally marked, but are written together. We do not differentiate between different forms of prep + art. fusions. These include:

  • zum, beim, aufm, mitm, fürs, ins, ans etc.
  • double consonants: vonner, inner, mitter etc.
  • BUT: auser, aufer, zuner etc.

• a list of spellings can be found here

lenghthening

• orthographic spelling with lenghthening h or doubling of vowels remains, colons (see following examples) are added
• lenghthening in letter combinations: in front of a lenghthening h (e.g. spä::ht), after a dipthong (e.g. polzei::), after a double letter (z.B. see:), after the vocalization of r (e.g. über:)
• longer than normal (0.2-2 Sek.) with a colon (e.g. so la:ng)
• strikingly long (ab 2 Sek.) with :: (e.g. so la::ng)
• doubling of vowel syllables with % (e.g. tschü%üss); can be combined with lenghthening colons (e.g. tschü:%üss); the same goes for diphthongs (e.g. hei%ei)
• drawn-out and long aspirated consonants are also marked with colons (just like the vowels)

• generally to be written together (e.g. lehrerzimmer)
• compositions of noun+adjective (saumüde), two adjetives (supertoll) or adjective+preposition (übergeil) and particle verbs (leidtun, weggehen) are transcribed as one token
• abbreviations/words with hyphen are not separately marked (e.g. "mathe emesa prüfung" for Mathe-MSA-Prüfung)
• coordination of compounds WITHOUT hyphen (e.g. mittag und abendessen)
• hyphens, provided that correct spelling intends them, remain, e.g. "t-shirt"
• compounds with names as first constituent are spelled with a hyphen, e.g. "rewe-parkplatz"

• write out in full
• write complex numbers together (e.g. zweikommadrei)
• divide fractions (e.g. zwei drittel)
• divide school marks (e.g. zwei minus)
• divide dates (e.g. elfter dritter)

• one word (e.g. "beemwe" for BMW)
• compounds of two abbreviations are not separately marked (e.g. "mercedes eselfka" for Mercedes-S11K)¹

spelling is kept (e.g. renault)

• transcribe onto speaker-tier
• pauses between two CUs receive an own event
• pauses within a CU is transcribed within, no own event
• 0.2-1.0 seconds: (-)
• 1.1-3.0 seconds: (--)
• over 3 seconds: enter measured value in brackets, e.g. (5.5)
• word internal pauses are marked the same way, e.g. auf(-)geschlossen (without space before and after the brackets), exception: word internal pause and filled pause (ähm) with spaces, e.g. auf (-) äh geschlossen

• non-verbal actions such as laughing or coughing are noted on speaker-tier in square brackets, e.g. [laughing]
• simultaneous laughing and speaking, as follows: [[laughing]ball]
• assigning of CU: the same as hesitation markers, non-verbal actions are assigned to the following CU, e.g. "(-) | [laughing] (-) ähm ja das hat mir meine mama schon immer gesagt"

• sound imitations are transcribed onto speaker-tier (e.g. "dann hör ick nur so wuh")
• speaker-independent interruptions (e.g. loud car noise, beeping computer) are only transcribed as pause without specification

• something incomprehensible within a CU is transcribed within the CU in brackets, so no extra interval (UNK) or (UNK, 2.2) über 2 Sekunden
• if it's ambiguous to which CU it belongs, it receives an own event
• assumptions about the content are put into brackets, each lexeme individually, e.g., (vermuteter) (Inhalt)
• assumptions relate to existing lexemes, i.e. if one only hears "ga", one must either mark it as a discontinuity within the brackets, as (ga/) or as (UNK)

• transcribe as heard in German orthography
• EXCEPT with English material, this is kept in English spelling
• AND: words that are listed in the Duden are not considered "Foreign Language Material". They are spelled accordingly (e.g. adieu)
• draw up a list with the spelling of foreign words and their occurrence so they are always spelled the same way, this list can be found here

names of persons

• replace name (first and surname) of speaker with speaker Sigle (e.g. DEmo02FD)
• the Genetive -s is added to the Sigle (e.g. DEmo02FDs)
• first names of absent mentioned people do not have to be anonymised
• surname or first and surname of absent people must be anonymised by speaker Sigle_P (e.g. DEmo02FD_P)

indication of place

• only anonymise if conclusion about place of residence is possible, e.g. when street names are mentioned that could be the address of the speaker
• school: {category}, e.g. Alexander-Puschkin-Schule as {schoolname}schule
• street: {streetname}straße
• if the place is inflected, e.g. plural, the inflection is suffixed: {streetname}straßen
• incomprehensible names of persons without indicating category

• negation: 'hm'hm, nee, 'ä'ä
• affirmation/signal of reception: 'hmhm
• signal of reception: hm, mhmh

• fillers: äh, ähm, öh, öhm, (even when they are produced with a glottal stop), hm (even when only m is produced)

• always: ne, gell
• sometimes: oder, ja, okay

A list of all interjections that occur can be found here and is continuously expanded throughout the transcription process.