Compression | Practice that aims to reduce, shorten, compress, or contract speech. Compression allows one to save time or catch their breath. It creates impressions of speed, blurring, mush, or encryption.

Compression occurs when we hear an utterance that seems shorter than what we were expecting. Spoken language is filled with practices that aim to save time, avoid redundancy, and state things in short. This collection has chosen to distinguish between different types of compression not only in terms of processing methods but also in terms of the units of language, or scale of discourse, it acts upon.

Compression by output acceleration

This first level of compression is the simplest: speech is compressed to the extent that a speaker is talking much more quickly than the norm, whether for stylistic effect, as in double-time raps with certain American auctioneers, in response to a challenge, as in “speed-debates” held at American universities, when caught in the momentum of an explanation, as Michel Rocard is here, or because one has been overcome by a violent emotion (sic)—(see also Je bavarde toujours).

Articulatory compression

Output acceleration often goes hand in hand with distorting word pronunciation: such is the case in this excerpt of the film La BM du Seigneur by Jean-Charles Hue, or in this interview where Françoise Sagan personally explains that the typist must slow down the tape recorder’s speed to be able to understand the words that are coming from it. This same process of eating up one’s words can be heard in an excerpt of the film L’Esquive, where a scene from a Marivaux play is spoken at top speed by an actor whose shyness (desire to be heard as little as possible) gives us the impression that his syllables have been pressed together (see also La nécessité de vivre ensemble).

In this short excerpt from an interview with criminal Charles Manson, in this excerpt of the film Hibernatus starring Louis De Funès, or even in this Dario Fo performance, phoneme compression is so exaggerated that it makes each speaker’s words sound burlesque and parodic. Similarly, Jean Sas unnerves his interlocutor in this street interview by pretending to stammer before speeding through parts of his questions. The poet Jaap Blonk has stylized this process in an exemplary way by methodically removing vowels and diphthongs from a given expression.

Morphological compression

Morphological compression takes place when words or phrases are literally abridged. The most common forms of abridgment are syncopes (v’là, short for voilà), apocopes (ciné, short for cinéma), and aphereses (bus, short for autobus). This process can even be heard in a rap song by Seth Gueko, as well as in another scene from the film L’Esquive. Likewise when Patrick Modiano quotes Baudelaire’s famous line, “Mais le vert paradis des amours enfantines” [“But the green paradise of childish love”]: either he considers this literary reference to be sufficiently well-known for his interlocutor to recognize it, or he is suddenly taken aback by the thought of repeating the root enfan- [child]—he removes the last two syllables from the word enfantines [childish].

This type of compression is also used as a rhetorical figure: when Jérôme Game reads his poems, utterances are arbitrarily truncated, often in the middle of words, forcing listeners to mentally rebuild the missing halves with all of the accompanying ambiguities such a process creates.

Other types of abridgment, very common in everyday speech, are acronyms or initialisms, as in this excerpt from a Grand Magasin show, in this interview parody with a financial analyst or, even more absurdly, in this video found on YouTube.

Syntactic compression

Another way of compressing discourse is to trim the very structure of what is being spoken: removing articles, pronouns, prepositions, even entire swaths of an utterance. Asyndeton, for example, is a rhetorical figure that cuts down an utterance by removing its logical connectors and conjunctions, like when journalist Jean-François Kahn gets carried away with himself. This kind of syntactic compression can also be used as a poetic technique, as can be heard in this reading by Olivier Cadiot.

Onomatopoeia is another very effective means of syntactic compression, as in this example of a witness to a car accident whose narrative mirrors the speed and brutality of the event being described. Poets and actors are masters at playing with an onomatopoeia’s power of ambiguity and evocation: : take futurist Marinetti’s poem Battaglia di Adrianopoli, for example, or Louis de Funès in another excerpt of Hibernatus, or Jacques Villeret in Jean Girault’s film La Soupe aux choux.

Rhetorical compression

Other possible examples of compression, albeit at a different scale, are processes where a word, sound, or phrase replace entire swaths of discourse. A building manager compresses the exasperation he feels about the occupants of the building he supervises into a whistling noise. One can also imagine that this whistling noise is replacing a word he cannot find or does not have the time to look for, as in this excerpt where a speaker produces a certain dramatic effect all while adequately illustrating what is being said by imitating the sound of an alarm. In this excerpt of a television show, a man’s long moan supplants his speech and serves as a response to the upsetting statement he has just heard.

In a certain way, pronouns (personal, demonstrative, relative) compress the utterances they stand for: they can be systematically decompressed on the condition of knowing the context they have been spoken in. A number of rhetorical strategies can be listed here. Another excerpt from a work by Olivier Cadiot shows us the ironic use he makes of the term “et cetera”: compressing an implicit whole presented as obvious but open, in reality, to a multitude of possible interpretations left to the listener’s imagination.

Conversely, a word or two can contain an entire formalized implicit statement within itself: such is the case when saying “I do” at a wedding, which is a compression of the whole matrimonial contract as it has just been uttered by a state or religious authority. In an excerpt of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer’s marriage ceremony, we can thus hear how the “I will” spoken by the spouses is charged with all that it represents for the British state, the English Monarchy, the Anglican Church, the Windsor family, and maybe the princely couple’s love as well. This moment can be compared to the one that follows it, where the contracting parties are made to repeat each word of the engagement they have just agreed to.

Another example of rhetorical compression can be found in certain slogans or catchphrases: when a group of women chant, “Yes, Dad; yes, Honey; yes, Boss—we’re sick of it!”a significant part of feminist discourse finds itself compressed into this ironic calling out of patriarchy.

Index

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    Babtou

    Seth Gueko, excerpt of the song Les mains sales de Brasco, 2008.

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    Babylogue

    Babil, excerpt of a YouTube video, 2009.

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    Boom

    Steve Jobs, keynote address for Mac OS X Tiger, 2008.

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    Boxe

    Isidore Isou, excerpt of the recording Poèmes lettristes 1949-1999, 1999.

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    C'est pas la peine

    Excerpt of a report by Vincent Lapierre, Le média pour tous, 2019.

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    Ce serait bien que tu articules

    Carole Franck, Osman Elkharraz, Sara Forestier, excerpt of the film L'Esquive by Abdelatif Kechiche, 2004.

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    Chauffe-eau

    Conversation with friends, excerpt of a personal recording by Nicolas Rollet, 2008.

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    Cheval-mouvement

    Olivier Cadiot, excerpt of the text Mr Solo, personal recording, 1980s.

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    Comment j'ai appris à ne pas

    Jérôme Game, excerpt of a reading at the cipM (Marseille), 2005.

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    Compresseur de temps

    Grand Magasin, excerpt of the show 5ème Forum International du Cinéma d'Entreprise, 2005.

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    Constantinopolitano

    Portuguese pronunciation exercise, personal recording, 2013.

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    Dans un petit magnétophone

    Françoise Sagan, excerpt of the show Midi2, Antenne 2, 1985.

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    Déboucher

    Interview with cyclists, excerpt of a television show, 1960s.

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    Deinococcus radiodurans

    Adrienne Kish, excerpt of the show La Méthode scientifique, France Culture, 2019.

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    Der Minister

    Jaap Blonk, excerpt of the recording Flux de Bouche, 1993.

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    Do you feel blame

    Charles Manson, excerpt of an interview with Heidi Shulman, Today Show, 1987.

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    E.P.Q.

    Pierre Guyotat, excerpt of a personal recording, 1976.

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    Et nous on est tout petits

    Témoignage d’un adolescent, Belgique, extrait de l’emission “Les pieds sur Terre”, France Culture, 2003

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    Faire baguette magique

    Jean-François Kahn, excerpt of the show Mots croisés, France 2, 2008.

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    Flux de bouche

    Jaap Blonk, excerpt of the recording Flux de Bouche, 1993.

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    Foncez, il n'y a aucun risque

    Les Inconnus, excerpt of the comedy sketch “La Bourse,” Antenne 2, 1991.

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    Formation élémentaire

    Interview with a member of the military, excerpt of the show Sur les docks, France Culture, 2008.

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    Hebs

    Rim-K, excerpt of the a capella version of “Banlieue” by Booba, 2005.

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    Hooo !

    Shepherd’s call, excerpt of Le berger, la stagiaire et les moutons by Robin Hunzinger, Arte Radio, 2005.

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    Hot like a kettle

    Dizzy Rascal, excerpt of an a capella from Jus' a Rascal, 2003.

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    I live for this

    Kristina Rose and Manuel Ferrara, excerpt of the film Kristina Rose Is Slutwoman, 2011.

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    I yield my time, fuck you !

    Speech at an Los Angeles Police Departement video conference, 2020.

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    I, Charles Philip Arthur George

    The Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Windsor, and Diana Spencer, excerpt of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer’s marriage ceremony, 1981.

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    If you actually go there

    Michael Pitt, excerpt of the film Last Days by Gus Van Sant, 2005.

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    Ik vind het niet leuk

    Extract from a language course, YouTube, 2010

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    J'ai collé mes frelots

    MC Jean Gab'1, excerpt of the a capella version of J’t’emmerde, 2002.

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    J'ai Youyou

    Afida Turner, excerpt of the show Les Anges de la téléréalité, NRJ12, 2010.

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    Je bavarde toujours

    M. Liochon, excerpt of an interview, Le petit rapporteur, TF1, 1975.

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    Je vous remercie de vous

    Barbara, excerpt of a concert at the Olympia, Paris, 1978.

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    Jouer le tir

    Commentaire lors du championnat du monde de handball féminin, RMC, 2017

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    Lâcher les élastiques

    Jean-Luc Delarue, excerpt of an interview on RTL, 2009.

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    Les gens

    Hallway conversation, personal recording by Nicolas Rollet, 2010.

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    Like a pinball

    Felicia Pearson, excerpt of the show The Wire, 2007.

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    Loof and let dime

    Robert Wilson, excerpt of a reading of poems by Christopher Knowles, 1999.

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    Lüüüül lüüüül

    Jacques Villeret and Louis de Funès, excerpt of the film La Soupe aux choux by Jean Girault, 1981.

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    Mes chiffres

    Michel Rocard, excerpt of the show La Marche du siècle, FR3, 1996.

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    Nine seventy-five

    John Korrey, excerpt of an auction, excerpt from the DVD Chant of a Champion, 2007.

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    On les trouve partout

    Serge Aron, excerpt of a conference held at Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, 2011.

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    One day I was baking something

    Excerpt from the testimony of a person with Huntington's disease, 2016.

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    Paf !

    Louis de Funès, excerpt of the film Hibernatus by Édouard Molinaro, 1969.

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    Passe, passe

    Interview with a resident of Le Val-Fourré, excerpt of the show Les Pieds sur terre, France Culture, 2008.

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    Reality hits you hard

    Excerpt from a reporting, video posted on YouTube, 2011.

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    Sapeur-chapeau

    Louis de Funès, excerpt of the film Hibernatus by Édouard Molinaro, 1969.

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    Sauf sur un point

    Marc Kravetz, excerpt of the show Les Matins, France Culture, 2007.

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    Shut up Cartman

    Excerpt of the show South Park, season 1, episode 5, 1997.

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    Si je comprends bien

    Jean Sas, excerpt of a prank, 1971.

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    Siete cinco cinco

    Excerpt of The Legendary Tape Recordings Vol.2 by Walter Gavitt Ferguson, year unknown. 

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    Siplaît monsieur

    Litany of a beggar, personal recording, 2019.

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    Speed debate

    Debate, semi-finals of the Samford Tournament, 2010.

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    Tam ! Boum boum !

    Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, excerpt of the poem “Battaglia di Adrianopoli,” 1924.

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    Tchetyrnatsat let

    Excerpt of the verdict of the Khodorkovski-Lebedev trial, 2010.

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    That's what he said

    Excerpt of the film The Sweet Hereafter by Atom Egoyan, 1997.

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    Tu viens avec moi ?

    Sara Forestier, Osman Elkharraz, excerpt of the film L'Esquive by Abdelatif Kechiche, 2004.

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    Tutta la merda de foeri

    Dario Fo, excerpt of the performance La fame dello Zanni, Rai Due, 1980s.

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    Un point c’est tout

    Claudette, excerpt from the film Sans Adieu by Christophe Agou, 2017.

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    What is compromise ?

    Eartha Kitt, excerpt of the documentary All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story, 1982.

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    Y'a deux genres de mecs

    Coluche, excerpt of the comedy sketch “C'est l'histoire d'un mec,” 1974.

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    Y'en a marre

    Feminist chant, 1970s.

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    Y’a trop d’émotion

    Rod Paradot, acceptance speech, Césars ceremony, 2016. 

What is compromise ?

Eartha Kitt, excerpt of the documentary All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story, 1982.

Siete cinco cinco

Excerpt of The Legendary Tape Recordings Vol.2 by Walter Gavitt Ferguson, year unknown. 

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