In linguistics, a filler is a sound or word that is spoken in conversation by one participant to signal to others that he/she has paused to think but is not yet finished speaking. These are not to be confused with placeholder names, such as thingamajig, which refer to objects or people whose names are temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown.
In Afrikaans, ah, em, and eh are common fillers.
In Arabic, ÙŰčÙÙ yaÊżni (âI meanâ) and Ùï·Č wallÄh(i) (âby Godâ) are common fillers.[2][3][4]
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 Bengali, mane (âit meansâ) is a common filler.
In Catalan, eh /É/, doncs (âsoâ), llavors (âthereforeâ), and o sigui (âit meansâ) are common fillers.
In Czech, tak or takĆŸe (âsoâ), prostÄ (âsimplyâ), jako (âlikeâ) are used as fillers. Äili (âorâ) and ĆŸe (âthatâ, a conjunction) might also be others. A person who says jako and prostÄ as fillers might sound a bit simple-minded to others.[5]
In Danish, Ăžh is one of the most common fillers.
In Dutch, eh, ehm, and dus are some of the more common fillers.
In Esperanto, do (âthereforeâ) is the most common filler.
In Filipino, ah, eh, ay, and ano are the most common fillers.
In Finnish, niinku (âlikeâ), tota, and öö are the most common fillers.
In French, euh /Ăž/ is most common; other words used as fillers include quoi (âwhatâ), bah, ben (âwellâ), tu vois (âyou seeâ), and eh bien (roughly âwellâ, as in âWell, Iâm not sureâ). Outside of France, other expressions are tu sais (âyou knowâ), tâsaisâveux dire? (âyou know what I mean?â), or allez une fois (âgo one timeâ). Additional filler words include genre (âkindâ), comme (âlikeâ), and style (âstyleâ; âkindâ)
In German, a more extensive series of filler words, called modal particles, exists, which actually do give the sentence some meaning. More traditional filler words are Ă€h /ÉË/, hm, so /zoË/, tja, and eigentlich (âactuallyâ)
In Hebrew, eh is the most common filler. Em is also quite common.
In Hindi, matlab (âit meansâ) and âMahâ are fillers.
In Hungarian, common filler words include hĂĄt (wellâŠ) and asszongya (a variant of azt mondja, which means âit says hereâŠâ).
In Icelandic, a common filler is hĂ©rna (âhereâ). ĂĂșst, a contraction of ĂŸĂș veist (âyou knowâ), is popular among younger speakers.
In Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), anu is one of the most common fillers.
In Italian, common fillers include âtipoâ (âlikeâ), âeccoâ (âthereâ) and âcioĂšâ (âactuallyâ)
In Irish Gaelic, abair /ËabË ÉÉŸÊČ/ (âsayâ), bhoil /wÉlÊČ/ (âwellâ), and era /ËÉÉŸË É/ are common fillers, along with emm as in Hiberno-English.
In Japanese, common fillers include eetto, ano, sono, and ee.
In Kannada,Matte for also,Enappa andre for the matter is are the common fillers.
In Korean, eung, eo, ge, and eum are commonly used as fillers.
In Lithuanian, nu, am and ĆŸinai (âyou knowâ) are common fillers.
IN Maltese and Maltese English, mela (âthenâ), or just la, is a common filler.
In Mandarin Chinese, speakers often say èżäžȘ zhĂšge/zhĂšige (âthisâ) or éŁäžȘ nĂ ge/nĂšige (âthatâ). Another common filler is ć°± jĂŹu (âjust/preciselyâ).
In Norwegian, common fillers are Ăžh, altsĂ„, pĂ„ en mĂ„te (âin a wayâ), ikke sant (literally ânot true?â, âno kiddingâ, or âexactlyâ), vel (âwellâ), and liksom (âlikeâ). In Bergen, sant (âtrueâ) is often used instead of ikke sant. In the TrĂžndelag region, skjĂžâ (âsee?â or âunderstand?â) is also a common filler.
In Persian, bebin (âyou seeâ), ÚÛŰČ âchizâ (âthingâ), and Ù
Ű«Ùۧ masalan (âfor instanceâ) are commonly-used filler words. As well as in Arabic and Urdu, ÙŰčÙÙ yaÊżni (âI meanâ) is also used in Persian. Also, eh is a common filler in Persian.
In Portuguese, tipo (âlikeâ) is the most common filler.
In Romanian, deci /detÊÊČ/ (âthereforeâ) is common, especially in school, and Ä /É/ is also very common (can be lengthened according to the pause in speech, rendered in writing as ÄÄÄ), whereas pÄi /pÉj/ is widely used by almost anyone.
In Russian, fillers are called ŃĐ»ĐŸĐČĐ°-паŃĐ°Đ·ĐžŃŃ (âvermin wordsâ); the most common are Đ-Ń (âehâ), ŃŃĐŸ (âthisâ), ŃĐŸĐłĐŸ (âthatâ), ĐœŃ (âwellâ), Đ·ĐœĐ°ŃĐžŃ (âit meansâ), ŃĐ°Đș (âsoâ), ĐșĐ°Đș Đ”ĐłĐŸ (âwhatâs it [called]â), ŃОпа (âlikeâ), and ĐșĐ°Đș Đ±Ń (â[just] likeâ).
In Serbian, znaÄi (âmeansâ) and ovaj (âthisâ) are common fillers.
In Slovak, onĂ© (âthatâ), tento (âthisâ), proste (âsimplyâ), or akoĆŸe are used as fillers. The Hungarian izĂ© (or izĂ 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, paÄ (âbutâ, although it has lost that meaning in colloquial, and it is used as a means of explanation), a ne? (âright?â), and no (âwellâ) 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 (âthisâ), and o sea (roughly means âI meanâ).[6], in Spain the previous fillers are also used, but ÂżVale? (âright?â) and Âżno? are very common too.
In Swedish, fillers are called utfyllningsord; some of the most common are öhm, ja (âyesâ), ba (comes from âbaraâ, which means âjustâ), assĂ„ or alltsĂ„ (âthereforeâ, âthusâ), va (comes from âvadâ, which means âwhatâ), and liksom and typ (both similar to the English âlikeâ).
In Ukrainian, ĐŸĐč /Éj/ is a common filler.
In Urdu, yani (âmeaningâŠâ), falan falan (âthis and thatâ; âblah blahâ), umm, and aaa are also common fillers.
In Telugu, ikkada entante (âWhats here isâŠâ) and tarwatha (âthenâŠâ) are common and there are numerous like this.
In Tamil, paatheenga-na (âif you seeâŠâ) and apparam (âthenâŠâ) are common.
In Turkish, yani (âmeaningâŠâ), Ćey (âthingâ), âiĆteâ (âthat isâ), and falan (âas suchâ, âso onâ) are common fillers.
In Welsh, de or ynde is used as a filler (loosely the equivalent of âYou know?â or âIsnât it?â). Ym⊠and Y⊠are used similarly to the English âumâŠâ.
