Listening: Overall Listening Mastery C2 - Lesson 3: Differentiating Finer Shades of Meaning Expressed Through Prosody and Lexis

C2 PROSODY & LEXIS

Diplomatic Subtext

ការយល់ដឹងពីអត្ថន័យបង្កប់

🎯 Scenario: A post-summit press conference.
Ambassador Thorne: Represents a country trying to hide a failed negotiation.
Objective: Decode his "Diplomatic Speak".

J

Journalist

A

Ambassador Thorne

Lexical Code: "Frank exchange" is diplomatic code for "We argued and disagreed."
Prosody Code: The pause before "frank" signals he is carefully choosing a euphemism.

A

Ambassador Thorne (Continued)

Prosody Code: Rising intonation (Up-speak) on "table" implies uncertainty or lack of finality.
Meaning: No decision was made. They are stalling.

Decode Diplomatic Euphemisms:

"Frank exchange" A serious disagreement or argument.

"Robust discussion" A heated debate with opposing views.

"Constructive dialogue" Talks happened, but no concrete results were achieved yet.

"Options on the table" A delay tactic; nothing has been ruled out or decided.

What does his Pause indicate?

He forgot the word.

A simple memory lapse.

Cognitive Selection (Filtering).

He stopped himself from saying "We fought" and selected "Frank" instead to save face.

Task: Write the Headline

Translate the Ambassador's "Diplomatic Speak" into plain English for a newspaper headline. Use words like "Clash", "Stall", or "Deadlock".