Filler (linguistics)
In linguistics, a filler, filled pause, hesitation marker or planner is a sound or word that is spoken in conversation by one participant to signal to others a pause to think without giving the impression of having finished speaking. Fillers fall into the category of formulaic language, and different languages have different characteristic filler sounds. The term filler also has a separate use in the syntactic description of wh-movement constructions.
Usage
Every conversation involves turn-taking, which means that whenever someone wants to speak and hear a pause, they do so. Pauses are commonly used to indicate that someone’s turn has ended, which can create confusion when someone hasn’t finished a thought but has paused to form a thought; in order to prevent this confusion, they will use a filler word such as um, er, or uh. The use of a filler word indicates that the other person should continue listening instead of speaking.Filler words generally contain little to no lexical content, but instead provide clues to the listener about how they should interpret what the speaker has said. While there are many different reasons for using filler words, sociolinguists have identified six main reasons for doing so: pausing to give time for the speaker to gather their thoughts, speaking more indirectly in order to encourage politeness, approaching delicate topics gently, emphasizing ideas, providing clues to emotions or behaviors, and communicating uncertainty. The actual words that people use may change, but the meaning and reason why people use them doesn’t change.
In English
In American English, the most common filler sounds are ah or uh and um . Among younger speakers, the fillers "like", "you know", "I mean", "okay", "so", "actually", "basically", and "right" are among the more prevalent. Christopher Hitchens described the use of the word "like" as a discourse marker or vocalized pause as a particularly prominent example of the "Californianization of American youth-speak," and its further recent spread throughout other English dialects via the mass-media.Filler words in different languages
- In Afrikaans, ah, um, and uh are common fillers.
- In American Sign Language, UM can be signed with open-8 held at chin, palm in, eyebrows down ; or bilateral symmetric bent-V, palm out, repeated axial rotation of wrist.
- In Arabic, يعني yaʿni and وﷲ wallāh are common fillers. In Moroccan Arabic, زعمة z3ma is a common filler, as well as ewa. In Iraqi Arabic, shisma is a filler.
- In Assyrian, yeni, aya, mindy or hina, akh and kheena are common fillers.
- In Bengali, মানে and thuri are common fillers.
- In Bislama, ah is the common filler.
- In Bulgarian, common fillers are ъ, амии, тъй, така, добре, такова and значи, нали.
- In Cantonese, speakers often say 即係 zik1 hai6 as a filler.
- In Catalan, eh, doncs, llavors, o sigui, saps? and diguem-ne are common fillers.
- In Croatian, the words ovaj and dakle, and znači are frequent.
- In Czech, fillers are called slovní vata, meaning "word cotton/padding", or parasitické výrazy, meaning "parasitic expressions". The most frequent fillers are čili, tak or takže, prostě, jako.
- In Danish, øh is one of the most common fillers.
- In Dutch, ehm, and dus are some of the more common fillers. Also eigenlijk, zo, nou and zeg maar in Belgian Dutch, allez or wel in Netherlandic Dutch, weet je? etc.
- In Esperanto, do is the most common filler.
- In Estonian, nii is one of the most common fillers.
- In Filipino, ah, eh, ay, and ano, parang, diba?, ayun are the most common fillers.
- In Finnish, niinku, tuota, and öö are the most common fillers. Swearing is also used as a filler often, especially among youth. The most common swear word for that is vittu, which is a word for female genitalia.
- In French, euh is most common; other words used as fillers include quoi, bah, ben, tu vois, t'vois c'que j'veux dire?, tu sais, t'sais, eh bien, and du coup. Outside France other expressions are t'sais veux dire?, or allez une fois. Additional filler words used by youngsters include genre, comme, and style.
- In German, traditional filler words include äh, hm, so, tja, halt, and eigentlich. So-called modal particles share some of the features of filler words, but they actually modify the sentence meaning.
- In Greek, ε, εμ, λοιπόν and καλά are common fillers.
- In Hebrew, is the most common filler. is also quite common. Millennials and the younger Generation X speakers commonly use . Additional filler words include , and . Use of fillers of Arabic origin such as is also common.
- In Hindi, मतलब, क्या कहते हैं, वो ना and ऐसा है। are some word fillers. Sound fillers include हूँ, अ,आ.
- In Hungarian, filler sound is ő, common filler words include hát, nos and asszongya. Among intellectuals, ha úgy tetszik is used as filler.
- In Icelandic, a common filler is hérna. Þúst, a contraction of þú veist, is popular among younger speakers.
- In Indonesian, anu & apasi are two of the most common fillers.
- In Irish Gaelic, abair , bhoil , and era are common fillers, along with emm as in Hiberno-English.
- In Italian, common fillers include ehm, allora, tipo, ecco, cioè, and beh.
- In Japanese, common fillers include ええと, あの, ま, そう, and ええ.
- In Kannada, matte for "also", enappa andre for "the matter is" are common fillers.
- In Korean, 응, 어, 그, and 음 are commonly used as fillers.
- In Kyrgyz, анан, баягы, жанагы, ушуреки, эме, are common fillers.
- In Lithuanian, nu, am, žinai, ta prasme, tipo are some of common fillers.
- In Malayalam, അതായതു and ennu vechaal are common.
- In Maltese and Maltese English, mela, or just la, is a common filler.
- In Mandarin Chinese, speakers often say 這個 or 那個 and prolonged p=en. Other common fillers are p=jiù and p=hǎoxiàng.
- In Mongolian, одоо is a common filler.
- In Nepali, माने, चैने, चैं, हैन are commonly used as fillers.
- In Norwegian, common fillers are eh, altso/altså, på ein måte / på en måte, berre/bare ikkje sant / ikke sant, vel, liksom and er det. In Bergen, sant is often used instead of ikkje/ikke sant. In the region of Trøndelag, is also a common filler.
- In Persian, ببین, چیز, and مثلا are commonly used filler words. As well as in Arabic and Urdu, يعني is also used in Persian. Also, اه eh is a common filler in Persian.
- In Portuguese, é, hum, então, tipo and bem are the most common fillers.
- In Polish, the most common filler sound is yyy and also eee and while common its use is frowned upon. Other examples include, no , wiesz .
- In Punjabi, مطلب is a common filler.
- In Romanian, deci is common, especially in school, and ă is also very common, whereas păi is widely used by almost anyone. A modern filler has gained popularity among the youths – gen, analogous to the English "like", literally translated as "type".
- In Russian, fillers are called слова-паразиты ; the most common are э-э, вот, это, того, такое, ну, значит, так, как его, типа, как бы, and понимаешь?.
- In Serbian, значи, па, мислим and овај are common fillers.
- In Slovak, oné, tento, proste, or akože are used as fillers. The Hungarian izé can also be heard, especially in parts of the country with a large Hungarian population. Ta is a filler typical of Eastern Slovak and one of the most parodied features.
- In Slovene, pač, a ne?, and no are some of the fillers common in central Slovenia, including Ljubljana.
- In Spanish, fillers are called muletillas. Some of the most common in American Spanish are e, este, and o sea. In Spain the previous fillers are also used, but ¿Vale? and ¿no? are very common too. and occasionally pues is used. Younger speakers there often use en plan. The Argentine filler word che became the nickname of rebel Ernesto "Che" Guevara, by virtue of his frequent use of it.
- In Swedish, fillers are called utfyllnadsord; some of the most common are öhm or öh, ja, ehm or eh or ba, asså or alltså, va, and liksom and typ.
- In Tamil, paatheenga-na and apparam are common.
- In Telugu, ఇక్కడ ఏంటంటే and తర్వాత are common and there are numerous like this.
- In Turkish, yani, şey, işte, and falan are common fillers.
- In Ukrainian, е, ну, і, цей, той-во are common fillers.
- In Urdu, یعنی, فلانا فلانا, ہاں ہاں and اچھا are also common fillers.
- In Welsh, de or ynde is used as a filler ; ’lly and also iawn ; ’na ni ; ym... and y... are used similarly to the English "um...".
In syntax