This volume contains a collection of papers on spoken language - how to represent it, analyze it, and explain it - without resorting to preconceived notions from text-based linguistics. The papers were presented at the symposium "SJUSK 2011 - 1st Conference on Contemporary Speech Habits," held at Copenhagen Business School in November 2011. Including contributions from linguists around the world, the series Copenhagen Studies in Language focuses on both language for general purposes and language for special purposes. From a theoretical, as well as an applied perspective, the series' scope covers grammar, semantics, pragmatics, spoken language, text linguistics, and translation. (Series: Copenhagen Studies in Language - No. 42)