Columbia Games Corpus » Classification Scheme for Single Affirmative Cue Words

Most of the labels are defined using okay, but the definitions hold for all of these words: alright, gotcha, huh, mmhm, okay, right, uhhuh, yeah, yep, yes, yup.
If you really cannot decide between two plausible labels, you may enter both of them, separated by comma (e.g., "A1,N").
If you really have no clue about the function of a word, label it as "?".

N Literal Modifiers:

In this case the words are used as modifiers. Examples:

"I think that's okay."
"It's right between the mermaid and the car."
"Yeah, that's right."

A1 Acknowledge/Agreement:

The function of okay that indicates "I believe what you said", and/or "I agree with what you say". This label should also be used for okay after another okay or after an evaluative comment like "Great" or "Fine" in its role as an acknowledgement.
Examples:
A: Do you have a blue moon?
B: Yeah.
A: Then move it to the left of the yellow mermaid.
B: Okay, gotcha. Let's see... (Here, both okay and gotcha are labeled "A1").

A1X Acknowledge/Agreement in response to the Computer:

For example, the computer shows a score and the subject responds okay to that event.
Example:
<Computer shows a score of "92">
B: Okay.

C Cue Beginning: The function of okay that marks a new segment of a discourse or a new topic. Test: could this use of okay be replaced by "Now"?	P Pivot Beginning: (A1+C) When okay functions as both a cue word and as an Acknowledge/Agreement. Test: Can okay be replaced by "Okay now" with the same pragmatic meaning?	PX (A1X+C)
E Cue Ending: The function of okay that marks the end of a current segment of a discourse or a current topic. Example: "So that's done. Okay."	F Pivot Ending: (A1+E) When okay functions as both a cue word and as an Acknowledge/Agreement, but ends a discourse segment.	FX (A1X+E)

A2 Backchannel:

The function of okay in response to another speaker's utterance that indicates only "I'm still here / I hear you and please continue".

S Stall:

Okay used to stall for time while keeping the floor. Test: Can okay be replaced by an elongated "Um" or "Uh" with the same pragmatic meaning? "So I yeah I think we should go together."

K Check:

Okay used with the meaning "Is that okay?" or "Is everything okay?". For example, "I'm stopping now, okay?"

B Back:

"I've just finished what I was doing and I'm back". Typical case: one subject spends some time thinking, and then signals s/he is ready to continue the discourse.

Special cases

"okay so" / "okay now" / "okay then" / etc., where both words are uttered together, "okay" seems to convey A1, and "so" / "now" / "then" seems to convey C. Since we do not label words like "so", "now" or "then", we label "okay" as P.
If you encounter a rapid sequence of the same word several times in a row, all of them uttered in one "burst" of breath, mark only the first one the corresponding label, and label the others with "?".
Example: "okay yeah yeah yeah" (click to play) should be labeled as: "okay[A1] yeah[A1] yeah[?] yeah[?]".

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Columbia Games Corpus » Classification Scheme for Single Affirmative Cue Words

N Literal Modifiers:

A1 Acknowledge/Agreement:

A1X Acknowledge/Agreement in response to the Computer:

C Cue Beginning:

P Pivot Beginning: (A1+C)

PX (A1X+C)

E Cue Ending:

F Pivot Ending: (A1+E)

FX (A1X+E)

A2 Backchannel:

S Stall:

K Check:

B Back:

Special cases