![]() Trump’s style of speaking is conversational, and may even stem from his New York City upbringing. In other words, Trump’s digressions and rambles are much easier to follow in person thanks to subtle cues. But in textual form the cues are gone, and we lose the thread. Both are effectively signaled in speaking - by prosody along with gesture, posture, and gaze - and therefore largely factored out by listeners. This apparent incoherence has two main causes: false starts and parentheticals. University of Pennsylvania linguist Mark Liberman has explained this in more detail: Why is that? It’s the difference between reading Trump’s remarks and listening to them in real time. Many people clearly walk away from Trump rallies having seemingly understood what he said. To some (or many), this style is completely incoherent. We get a lot of unscripted moments, with fractured, unfinished sentences, moving quickly from thought to thought. At many of his rallies, by contrast, he speaks off the cuff. Only a few of Trump’s big speeches are scripted. ![]() ![]() Why Trump’s speeches are incomprehensible to some - and make perfect sense to others But is it effective? That’s a much harder question. He rallies people through impassioned, targeted conversation - even if it doesn’t always follow a clear arc. Trump’s style of speaking has its roots in oral culture. Their seeming incoherence stems from the big difference between written and spoken language. There were lots of disagreements on this front, but one thing stood out: Trump’s speeches aren’t meant to be read. Are there any precedents for this speaking style? Is it coherent? Is there a reason it appeals to certain people? So I was curious if professional linguists and historians could help us figure out what makes Trump unique. It’s a completely different style from nearly any other politician you normally see on a big stage. "His speeches are full of non sequiturs," says Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a Calvin College historian who has done a comparative study of Trump and Hillary Clinton’s speaking styles. Slate even called on the public to help diagram it. Trump’s simple message - "the Iran deal is bad for the United States" - was interrupted by musings on his uncle’s education, his own education, the power of nuclear energy, prisoners, the intelligence of women, and the negotiating prowess of Iranians, seemingly without rhyme or reason. John Trump at MIT good genes, very good genes, okay, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart - you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, okay, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world - it’s true! - but when you're a conservative Republican they try - oh, do they do a number - that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune - you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged - but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me - it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was right - who would have thought?), but when you look at what's going on with the four prisoners - now it used to be three, now it’s four - but when it was three and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years - but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us. Look, having nuclear - my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. He often jumps to an entirely new thought before finishing his previous one.Ĭonsider this Trump comment on the Iran nuclear deal during a campaign rally in South Carolina on July 21, 2015. When he’s speaking off the cuff, his rambling remarks can be full of digressions and hard-to-follow tangents. As someone covering him during this campaign, I can attest to this. ![]() When Donald Trump goes off script, transcribing him can be a challenge.
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