Filler (linguistics)
In linguistics, a filler, filled pause, hesitation marker or planner is a sound or word that participants in a conversation use to signal that they are pausing to think but are not finished speaking. These are not to be confused with placeholder names, such as thingamajig. 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, and speakers need to signal whether they are yielding the turn or want to keep going. Pauses are common in both cases, but to avoid confusion, speakers wanting to continue commonly use fillers, such as um, er, or uh.Beyond conveying "I still want to talk", fillers can also convey more: whether the speaker is just trying to find the right word or is struggling to formulate his/her thought at a deeper level. "Uh" is more common in the former, and "um" in the latter. However fillers are often more complex, conveying many nuances of meaning and doing so through subtle variation, both prosodic and phonetic, such that many fillers are sound combinations, rather than words.
Filler words may also provide clues to the listener about how they should interpret what the speaker has said. The actual words that people use may change, but the meaning and the reasons for using them do not change.
In English
In American English, the most common filler sounds are uh, ah, and um. In British English, the equivalents are er and erm. Among younger speakers, the fillers "like", "you know", "I mean", "okay", "so", "actually", "basically", and "right?" are among the more prevalent.In other 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 Armenian, բան ban, Միգուցե Miguts'e,, էլի ēli and ոնց որ vonts' vor are common fillers.*
- In Asturian, some common fillers are bono, ¿acuéi?, eh, ho, hala/hale, pos, asina que, yá, nada, entós and pos nada.
- In Bengali, ইয়ে 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 and 噉 gam2 as fillers.
- 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 and øhm are among the most common fillers.
- In Dhivehi, aney, mee, ehkala, dhen and alhey are some common fillers.
- In Dutch, ehm, and dus are some of the more common fillers. Also eigenlijk, zo, allez and zeg maar in Netherlandic Dutch, nou or wel in Belgian Dutch, weet je? etc.
- In Esperanto, nu and do are the most common fillers.
- 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 Metropolitan 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 and apa sih are among the most common fillers.
- In Irish, 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 be'.
- 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 Kurdish, icar , as well as baš e are common filler words. In Badinani, mn got and ez d bêjm are used similarly to "I mean". ueki is used similarly to "like".
- In Kyrgyz, анан, баягы, жанагы, ушуреки, эме, are common fillers.
- In Lithuanian, nu, am, žinai, ta prasme, tipo are some common fillers.
- In Malay, speakers often use words and phrases such as apa nama or itu as 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 ; , meaning 'that'. Other common fillers are p=jiù and p=hǎoxiàng.
- In Mirandese, speakers often use pus, bá, bien, or for some speakers, bon, being a direct loan from Portuguese bom, meaning “well”, but only being loaned as the filler word and not its other uses, where the native buono is maintained.
- In Mongolian, одоо and нөгөө are common fillers.
- 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 l, 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 . Among the younger generation new, often english-inspired, fillers are gaining popularity: generalnie/ogólnie, jakby, w sensie, w sumie.
- 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?, no, v ''bistvu, and pravzaprav are some of the most common fillers.
- In Spanish, fillers are called muletillas. Some of the most common in American Spanish are e, em, este, and o sea. In Spain the previous fillers are also used, but ¿Vale? and ¿no? are very common too and pues is also 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. Other possible filled pauses in Spanish are: a'', am, bueno, como, and others.
- 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 Vietnamese, "ơ" or "à" ; "ý là" ;...
- In Welsh, 'dê or yndê, from onid e – 'Is it not so?' – is used as a filler, and in a similar way, especially in southern dialects t'mod and ch'mod along with t'wel and ch'wel ; 'lly ; iawn is used as a filler at the beginning, middle or end of sentences; – used loosely to mean 'alright'; 'na ni, an abbreviation of dyna ni – 'there we are'; ym… and y… are used similarly to the English 'um…' and 'uh…'.
In syntax