Beobachtungen zu [nja] in deutscher Spontansprache ; [nja] in spontaneous speech: some observations on a highly frequent particle in spoken German

This paper presents observations on the phonetic realisations of the German particles ja – ‘yes’ and naja – approximately ‘well’. As part of a large-scale study on the particle ja, we identified numerous instances in the dataset that had been orthographically transcribed as ja, but were phonetically realised as [nja]. Using phonetic and functional parameters, we explore the question whether these instances can be attributed to either the lexeme ja or naja. While phonetic measurements yield ambivalent results, analyses of pragmatic parameters such as function and turn position seem to indicate that [nja] was predominantly intended to be ja, although some functional differences between ja and [nja] could also be identified.