La primaire socialiste : un événement politique à l’origine d’un nouveau phonostyle ?
The primary socialist Elections: an event at the origin of a new speaking style?

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this study is to observe the importance and specific nature of pauses in speech production, depending on the context. Samples of François Hollande’s speech in two different TV debates are analysed: in the first one he debated with Martine Aubry during the second round of the Primary Socialist elections in France; in the second debate he faced Nicolas Sarkozy during the second round of the presidential elections. The present study is the combination of phonetic and linguistic discourse analyses of speech. The objective was to determine if the type of debate affects the politician’s speech; would speaking strategies differ when the speaker is confronted with a member of his own party, compared with a situation where he is faces a member of a rival party? Indeed, significant differences have been found in François Hollande’s speech, and also in his gestures and postures depending on the context. He speaks slowly and pauses are longer when he debates with Nicolas Sarkozy, presumably a strategy enployed not only to appear calm and confident but also to be better understood by the audience watching the debate, that is potential voters during the presidential elections.

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