# Annotation Guide: Trump Primary Corpus (TPC2016)

This short document outlines the annotation conventions used in the sample transcripts of the Trump Primary Corpus (TPC2016). These conventions aim to preserve the prosodic, rhetorical, and performative aspects of Donald J. Trump’s live campaign discourse.

## Key Annotation Conventions:
- **–CROWD CHEERS AND APPLAUDS**: Indicates strong audience approval. Used to mark emotionally significant or climactic speech moments.
- **–CROWD LAUGHS**: Marks audience laughter. Useful for detecting humor, irony, or emotional connection.
- **–MR. TRUMP REACTS/RESPONDS**: Describes non-verbal or paralinguistic actions, often directed at the crowd or media.
- **ALL CAPS phrases**: Used to emphasize loud or shouted words (e.g., IT’S, BELIEVE ME). Reflects prosodic emphasis.
- **Ellipses (...)**: Marks pauses, trailing speech, or rhetorical buildup.
- **‘Quotations’**: Direct quotes or rhetorical dialogues. Often reproduces Trump’s imitated speech or audience interaction.
- **[Annotations in brackets]**: Clarifies references or adds context (e.g., [meaning the Des Moines Register]).
- **● Bullets or section dividers**: Sometimes used as visual cues between sections (not frequent).
- **MINUTE: xx.xx**: Timestamp markers, occasionally used to indicate when a speech section begins.

## Editorial Note:
These conventions were developed inductively while transcribing the rallies. They reflect the live and performative nature of the events and may not conform to strict orthographic or grammatical rules. Minor spelling deviations and spoken-style constructions have been retained to preserve authenticity and analyzability.

This guide accompanies the public release of TPC2016 on Zenodo and is intended to support reuse by researchers in discourse analysis, prosody, political communication, and applied linguistics.