Phonetic features in the interactional management of laughter

This paper investigates the phonetic and social organisation of laughter in spoken conversation. Building on conversation analytic research that highlights laughter as a complex interactional achievement, we examine the phonetic details of laughter in recordings of English, Spanish, and Finnish conversations, and how participants use these details to manage its unfolding in real time. Our analysis details the internal structure of laughter bouts, including the initiating pulse, exhalation sequence, glottal reset, and final inhalation. We demonstrate phonetic differences between the phases of laughter, and how participants use these details of production to coordinate laughter with each other and with surrounding talk. Our findings contribute to a more detailed understanding of the phonetic organisation of laughter and its role in the management of social interaction.