Filler (linguistics)

src: acronymsandslang.com

In linguistics, a filler 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. These are not to be confused with placeholder names, such as thingamajig, whatsamacallit, whosawhatsa and whats'isface, which refer to objects or people whose names are temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown. 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.

Video Filler (linguistics)

In English

In English, the most common filler sounds are ah or uh /?/, er /?:/, and um /?m/. Among younger speakers, the fillers "like", "you know", "I mean", "okay", "so", "actually", "basically", and "right" are among the more prevalent. The use of the Valleyspeak word "like" as a discourse marker or vocalized pause is a particularly prominent example of the "Californianization of American youth-speak," and its further recent spread throughout other English dialects via the mass-media.

To compensate for his cognitive decline, Ronald Reagan likely turned to words such as "well," "so," "literally," or "um" as filler while he struggled for more complex words in his speaking.

Since the advent of computers, especially streaming video, there has been comparison of filler words to "Buffer words." Buffering, the pause that is experienced while information is retrieved and/or compiled for presentation as a whole, does closely model the cognitive process that accompanies most filler word usage. Similarly, as the increased frequency or duration of buffering in computers indicates data processing deficiencies in a device,the overuse or dependency upon buffering in speech indicate possible cognitive impairment from lack of information, preparation, regard, or confidence, etc. However, in many cases, buffer words, particularly "like,' "you know," and their ilk, have become parlance in casual conversation, suggesting an imprecise statement that invites the listener to "fill in the gaps" and either acknowledge, confirm, or amend the statement, thus completing the transaction. Still, sometimes excessive buffering is just a bad habit that has gone uncorrected and, like all bad habits, increases in frequency and scope through repetition.

Maps Filler (linguistics)

Filler words in different languages

In Afrikaans, ah, um, and uh are common fillers (um, and uh being in common with English).
In Arabic, ???? ya?ni ("means") and ?? wall?h(i) ("by God") are common fillers. In Moroccan Arabic, ???? z3ma ("like") is a common filler ewa (so) is also a common Moroccan filler.
In American Sign Language, UM can be signed with open-8 held at chin, palm in, eyebrows down (similar to FAVORITE); or bilateral symmetric bent-V, palm out, repeated axial rotation of wrist (similar to QUOTE).
In Assyrian, yeni ("I mean"), aya, mindy or hina ("thingy" and "uh"), akh ("like") and kheena ("well") are common fillers.
In Bengali, ???? (mane: "it means","I mean","that is") and thuri ("..er..that is") are common fillers.
In Bislama, ah is the common filler.
In Bulgarian, common fillers are ? (uh), ???? (amii, 'well'), ??? (tui, 'so'), ???? (taka, 'thus'), ????? (dobre, 'well'), ?????? (takova, 'this') and ????? (znachi, 'it means'), ???? (nali, 'right').
In Cantonese, speakers often say ?? zik1 hai6 ("that is"/"meaning") as a filler.
In Catalan, eh /?/, doncs ("so"), llavors ("therefore"), o sigui ("it means") and diguem-ne ("say") are common fillers.
In Chinese, ??; ??; zhège; ze² go³; "this", ??; ??; nàge; naa⁵ go³; "that" and prolonged ?; en (in common with "um" in English).
In Croatian, the words ovaj (literally "this one", but the meaning is lost) and dakle ("so"), and zna?i ("meaning", "it means") are frequent.
In Czech, fillers are called slovní vata, meaning "word cotton/padding", or parasitické výrazy, meaning "parasitic expressions". The most frequent fillers are ?ili, tak or tak?e ("so"), prost? ("simply"), jako ("like").
In Danish, øh is one of the most common fillers.
In Dutch, ehm, and dus ("thus") are some of the more common fillers. Also eigenlijk ("actually"), zo ("so"), nou ("well") and zeg maar ("so to say") in Netherlandic Dutch, allez ("come on") or (a)wel ("well") in Belgian Dutch, weet je? ("you know?") etc.
In Esperanto, do ("therefore") is the most common filler.
In Estonian, nii ("so") is one of the most common fillers.
In Filipino, ah, eh, ay, and ano ("what"), kuwan, ganun ("something like that"), parang ("like"), Lam mo yan, teh! ("You know, sistah!") are the most common fillers.
In Finnish, niinku ("like"), 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 /ø/ is most common; other words used as fillers include quoi ("what"), bah, ben ("well"), tu vois ("you see"), t'vois c'que j'veux dire? ("you see what I mean?"), tu sais, t'sais ("you know"), eh bien (roughly "well", as in "Well, I'm not sure"), and du coup (roughly "suddenly"). Outside France other expressions are t'sais veux dire? ("ya know what I mean?"; Québec), or allez une fois ("go one time"; especially in Brussels, not in Wallonia). Additional filler words used by youngsters include genre ("kind"), comme ("like"), and style ("style"; "kind").
In German, traditional filler words include äh /?:/, hm, so /zo:/, tja, halt, and eigentlich ("actually"). So-called modal particles share some of the features of filler words, but they actually modify the sentence meaning.
In Greek, ? (e), ?? (em), ?????? (lipon, "so") and ???? (kala, "good") are common fillers.
In Hebrew, ??? (eh) is the most common filler. ??? (em) is also quite common. Millennials and the younger Generation X speakers commonly use ????? (ke'ilu, the Hebrew version of "like"). Additional filler words include ?????? (zt'omeret, short for ??? ????? zot omeret "that means"), ?? (az, "so") and ?????? (bekitsur, "in short"). Use of fillers of Arabic origin such as ???? (ya?anu, a mispronunciation of the Arabic ????, ya?ani) is also common.
In Hindi, ???? (matlab, "it means"), ??? ??? (asal mein, "actually") and ??? ??? (ais? hai, "what it is") are some word fillers. Sound fillers include ??? (hoon, [?u:m?]), ? (aa, [ä:]).
In Hungarian, filler sound is ?, common filler words include hát, nos (well...) and asszongya (a variant of azt mondja, which means "it says here..."). Among intellectuals, ha úgy tetszik (if you like) is used as filler.
In Icelandic, a common filler is hérna ("here"). Þúst, a contraction of þú veist ("you know"), is popular among younger speakers.
In Indonesian, anu is one of the most common fillers.
In Italian, common fillers include ehm ("um", "uh"), allora ("well then", "so"), tipo ("like"), ecco ("there"), cioè ("actually", "that is to say", "rather"), and beh ("well", "so"; most likely a shortening of bene or ebbene, which are themselves often used as filler words).
In Irish Gaelic, abair /'ab????/ ("say"), bhoil /w?l?/ ("well"), and era /'????/ are common fillers, along with emm as in Hiberno-English. This accent tends to have the most fillers as Irish people tend to use the word like as well.
In Japanese, common fillers include ??? (e-, eto, or "um"), ?? (ano, literally "that over there", used as "um"), ? (ma, or "well"), ?? (so-, used as "hmmm"), and ?? (e-e, a surprise reaction, with tone and duration indicating positive/negative).
In Kannada, matte for "also", enappa andre for "the matter is" are common fillers.
In Korean, ? (eung), ? (eo), ? (geu), and ? (eum) are commonly used as fillers.
In Kyrgyz, ???? ("then", "so"), ????? ("that"), ?????? ("that"), ??????? ("this"), ??? ("uh"), are common fillers.
In Lithuanian, nu, am, ?inai ("you know"), ta prasme ("meaning"), tipo ("like") are some of common fillers.
In Maltese and Maltese English, mela ("then"), or just la, is a common filler.
In Mandarin Chinese, speakers often say ?? zhège/zhèige ("this") or ?? nàge/nèige ("that"). Other common fillers are ? jìu ("just") and ?? h?oxiàng ("as if/kind of like").
In Nepali, maane or ???? ("meaning"), chaine or ????, chai or ???, and haina or ??? ("No?") are commonly used as fillers.
In Norwegian, common fillers are øh, altså, på en måte ("in a way"), bare ("Just") ikke sant (literally "not true?", meaning "don't you agree?", "right?", "no kidding" or "exactly"), vel ("well"), and liksom ("like"). In Bergen, sant ("true") is often used instead of ikke sant. In the Trøndelag region, skjø' (comes from "skjønner" which means "see(?)" or "understand?") is also a common filler.
In Persian, bebin ("you see"), ??? "chiz" ("thing"), and ???? masalan ("for instance") are commonly used filler words. As well as in Arabic and Urdu, ???? ya?ni ("I mean") is also used in Persian. Also, eh is a common filler in Persian.
In Portuguese, é, hum, então ("so"), tipo ("like") and bem ("well") are the most common fillers.
In Punjabi, matlab ("it means") is a common filler.
In Polish, the most common filler sound is yyy /?/ and also eee /?/ (both like English "um") and while common its use is frowned upon. Other examples include, no /n?/ (like English "well"), wiesz /vje?/ ("you know").
In Romanian, deci /det??/ ("therefore") is common, especially in school, and ? /?/ is also very common (can be lengthened according to the pause in speech, rendered in writing as ???), whereas p?i /p?j/ is widely used by almost anyone. A modern filler has gained popularity among the youths - gen /d??n/, analogous to the English "like", literally translated as "type".
In Russian, fillers are called ?????-???????? ("parasite words"); the most common are ?-? ("eh"), ??? ("here it is"), ??? ("this"), ???? ("that kind, sort of"), (??) ????? ("some kind [of this]"), ?? ("well, so"), ?????? ("I mean, kind of, like"), ??? ("so"), ??? ??? ("what's it [called]"), ???? ("kinda"), ??? ?? ("[just] like, sort of"), and ?????????? ("understand?, you know, you see").
In Serbian, zna?i ("means") and ovaj ("this") are common fillers.
In Slovak, oné ("that"), tento ("this"), proste ("simply"), or ako?e ("it's like...") are used as fillers. The Hungarian izé (or izí in its Slovak pronunciation) 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, pa? ("indeed", "just", "merely"), a ne? ("right?"), and no ("well") 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 /e/, este (roughly equivalent to "uhm", literally means "this"), and o sea (roughly equivalent to "I mean", literally means "or be it")., in Spain the previous fillers are also used, but ¿Vale? ("right?") and ¿no? are very common too. Occasionally pues ("well"). Young people in Spain tend to use nowadays the filler "en plan" (meaning "as", "like" or "in [noun] mode").
In Swedish, fillers are called utfyllnadsord; some of the most common are öhm or "öh", ja ("yes"), "Ehm" or "eh" Ex "eh jag vet inte" or ba (comes from "bara", which means "only"), asså or alltså ("therefore", "thus"), va (comes from "vad", which means "what"), and liksom and typ (both similar to the English "like").
In Ukrainian, ? ("eh", similar to "um"), ?? ("Nu (well)"), ? ("and"), ??? ("this"), ???-?? ("this one") are common fillers.
In Urdu, yani ("meaning..."), flana flana ("this and that"; "blah blah"), haan haan ("yeah yeah") and acha ("ok") are also common fillers.
In Telugu, ikkada entante ("Whats here is...") and tarwatha ("then...") are common and there are numerous like this.
In Malayalam, athayathu ("that means...") and ennu vechaal ("then...") are common.
In Tamil, paatheenga-na ("if you see...") and apparam ("then...") are common.
In Turkish, yani ("meaning..."), ?ey ("thing"), i?te ("that is"), and falan ("as such", "so on") are common fillers.
In Welsh, de or ynde is used as a filler (loosely the equivalent of "You know?" or "Isn't it?"); "'lly" (from "felly" - so/like in English, used in northern Wales) and also "iawn" (translated 'ok' is used as a filler at the beginning, middle or end of sentences); "'na ni" (abbreviation of "dyna ni" - there we are); Ym... and Y... are used similarly to the English "um...".

Among language learners, a common pitfall is using fillers from their native tongue. For example, "Quiero una umm.... quesadilla". While less of a shibboleth, knowing the placeholder names (sometimes called kadigans) of a language (e.g. the equivalent of "thingy") can also be useful to attain fluency, such as the French truc: "Je cherche le truc qu'on utilise pour ouvrir une boîte" ("I'm looking for the thingy that you use to open up a can").

A linguist explains why it's okay to say

src: qz.com

In syntax

The linguistic term "filler" has another, unrelated use in syntactic terminology. It refers to the pre-posed element that fills in the "gap" in a wh-movement construction. Wh-movement is said to create a long-distance or unbounded "filler-gap dependency". In the following example, there is an object gap associated with the transitive verb saw, and the filler is the wh-phrase how many angels: "I don't care [how many angels] she told you she saw."

Filler Words in Different Languages! - YouTube

src: i.ytimg.com

References

Stop Feeling Bad About Saying 'Um' And 'Uh' | Lifehacker Australia

src: i.kinja-img.com

External links

Why do people say "um" and "er" when hesitating in their speech?, New Scientist, May 6, 1995
Lotozo, Eils (September 4, 2002). "The way teens talk, like, serves a purpose". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Citing Siegel, Muffy E. A. (2002). "Like: The Discourse Particle and Semantics". Journal of Semantics. 19 (1): 35-71. doi:10.1093/jos/19.1.35.
Nino Amiridze, Boyd H. Davis, and Margaret Maclagan, editors. Fillers, Pauses and Placeholders. Typological Studies in Language 93, John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2010. Review

Source of article : Wikipedia

Filler (linguistics)

Saturday, June 16, 2018