How do you transcribe a sentence that when spoken sounds like a question. The only way I know how to describe this is "valley girl". I hope I don't offend anyone (not sure if valley girl is politically correct). Example: You said something earlier about eating ice cream The female speaker puts an emphasis on the last part of a sentence that makes it sound like a question, but it is not. So...do you put a period or question mark at the end of the sentence? Thanks so very much!
Hm. That one sounds like it actually could be a question, so you'd have to consider the context. Generally, if the speaker means it as a question, then it gets a question mark. If it was meant as a statement that required no answer, then give it a period. This is where the human part of transcribing comes in: you have to be the judge of what was going on, what the intent was, in order to know how to punctuate accurately (which is why I like the word "accurate" in transcription, rather than the word "correct"---what's correct when a speaker has one intention is not correct if they have a different intention). Hope that helps!
Thank you for your reply. I didn't actually post the exact words from the audio, so I know it's hard to tell without hearing the conversation. By the time you replied, I had already submitted the HIT. I chose not to put a question mark. It just seemed more like a statement than a question. We will see what happens! (fingers crossed) Again, Thank you!