A Stylistic Analysis of Junctures in Relation to Pauses in Doctor Strange and Aladdin Movies

The study has investigated and examined different types of pauses, both filled (hesitations) and nonfilled (silent pauses) in terms of phonology in both Aladdin and Doctor Strange movies. It has been found that filled pauses (i.e. hesitations) have been used in the movies mainly to provide only lengthening, repeat and self-correction. Yet, there are other features of hesitations which are called interjection hesitations which are (oh, uh, uh-huh, mm, er, and well). All of these pauses have been demonstrated and clarified by junctures that connect sounds that precede and follow them in the subsequent utterances. These junctures, in turn, are of two types: open and close. Open junctures, which sense pauses, provide purposeful stoppage or delay in speech, whereas close ones appear along with the flow of the speech and they do not sense pauses but they appear prominently along with the speech. Strikingly significant, both these open and close junctures appear along with rhythm and intonation because they are presented for a meaning. The two types also appear with filled and non-filled pauses. Phonologically speaking, junctures can be presented as a technical term for pauses, so the term pause is rather an umbrella term under which come juncture; therefore, the title pause subsumes all types of pauses. It has been found that these pauses have been used in both movies to reflect the different psychological states and the different contexts whereby they are produced. Strikingly impressive, these pauses can be perceived as important stylistic markers in the movies and they have peculiar effects on text production and comprehension. Hence, this thesis attempts to accomplish the following aims: