Too Many Words

Enough said. Hannah. 17. United States. About the blog

[grahamedwardjoncas-deactivated2]

The reasons for changes in the linguistic structure, on the other hand, cannot lie in tendencies of the speakers. Linguistic structure, after all, is defined as something independent of them. We assume that linguistic structure follows its own laws and that a change in linguistic structure is not due to tendencies of the speakers, but to dispositions in the system that undergoes change. A given linguistic structure may be thought of as being predisposed to move in certain directions and not in others. And here it is linguistic typology, with what it has to say about categories that seek out and favor each other and categories that shun or avoid each other, which must identify the causes of linguistic change.

Hjelmslev - Language: An Introduction, p. 131 (via writingcapital)

[vinurminn]

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, يعني yaʿni (“I mean”) and وﷲ wallāh(i) (“by God”) 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 (“it means”) is a common filler.

In Catalan, eh /ə/, doncs (“so”), llavors (“therefore”), and o sigui (“it means”) are common fillers.

In Czech, tak or takže (“so”), prostě (“simply”), jako (“like”) are used as fillers. Čili (“or”) and že (“that”, a conjunction) might also be others. A person who says jako and prostě as fillers might sound a bit simple-minded to others.[5]

In Danish, øh is one of the most common fillers.

In Dutch, eh, ehm, and dus are some of the more common fillers.

In Esperanto, do (“therefore”) is the most common filler.

In Filipino, ah, eh, ay, and ano are the most common fillers.

In Finnish, niinku (“like”), tota, and öö are the most common fillers.

In French, euh /ø/ is most common; other words used as fillers include quoi (“what”), bah, ben (“well”), tu vois (“you see”), and eh bien (roughly “well”, as in “Well, I’m not sure”). Outside of France, other expressions are tu sais (“you know”), t’sais’veux dire? (“you know what I mean?”), or allez une fois (“go one time”). Additional filler words include genre (“kind”), comme (“like”), and style (“style”; “kind”)

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 äh /ɛː/, hm, so /zoː/, tja, and eigentlich (“actually”)

In Hebrew, eh is the most common filler. Em is also quite common.

In Hindi, matlab (“it means”) and “Mah” are fillers.

In Hungarian, common filler words include hát (well…) and asszongya (a variant of azt mondja, which means “it says here…”).

In Icelandic, a common filler is hérna (“here”). Þúst, a contraction of þú veist (“you know”), is popular among younger speakers.

In Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), anu is one of the most common fillers.

In Italian, common fillers include “tipo” (“like”), “ecco” (“there”) and “cioè” (“actually”)

In Irish Gaelic, abair /ˈabˠəɾʲ/ (“say”), bhoil /wɛlʲ/ (“well”), and era /ˈɛɾˠə/ 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 žinai (“you know”) are common fillers.

IN Maltese and Maltese English, mela (“then”), or just la, is a common filler.

In Mandarin Chinese, speakers often say 这个 zhège/zhèige (“this”) or 那个 nàge/nèige (“that”). Another common filler is 就 jìu (“just/precisely”).

In Norwegian, common fillers are øh, altså, på en måte (“in a way”), ikke sant (literally “not true?”, “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’ (“see?” or “understand?”) is also a common filler.

In Persian, bebin (“you see”), چیز “chiz” (“thing”), and مثلا masalan (“for instance”) are commonly-used filler words. As well as in Arabic and Urdu, يعني yaʿni (“I mean”) is also used in Persian. Also, eh is a common filler in Persian.

In Portuguese, tipo (“like”) is the most common filler.

In Romanian, deci /detʃʲ/ (“therefore”) is common, especially in school, and ă /ə/ is also very common (can be lengthened according to the pause in speech, rendered in writing as ăăă), whereas păi /pəj/ is widely used by almost anyone.

In Russian, fillers are called слова-паразиты (“vermin words”); the most common are Э-э (“eh”), это (“this”), того (“that”), ну (“well”), значит (“it means”), так (“so”), как его (“what’s it [called]”), типа (“like”), and как бы (“[just] like”).

In Serbian, znači (“means”) and ovaj (“this”) are common fillers.

In Slovak, oné (“that”), tento (“this”), proste (“simply”), or akože 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, pač (“but”, although it has lost that meaning in colloquial, and it is used as a means of explanation), 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 (“this”), and o sea (roughly means “I mean”).[6], in Spain the previous fillers are also used, but ¿Vale? (“right?”) and ¿no? are very common too.

In Swedish, fillers are called utfyllningsord; some of the most common are öhm, ja (“yes”), ba (comes from “bara”, which means “just”), asså or alltså (“therefore”, “thus”), va (comes from “vad”, which means “what”), and liksom and typ (both similar to the English “like”).

In Ukrainian, ой /ɔj/ is a common filler.

In Urdu, yani (“meaning…”), falan falan (“this and that”; “blah blah”), umm, and aaa are also common fillers.

In Telugu, ikkada entante (“Whats here is…”) and tarwatha (“then…”) are common and there are numerous like this.

In Tamil, paatheenga-na (“if you see…”) and apparam (“then…”) are common.

In Turkish, yani (“meaning…”), şey (“thing”), “işte” (“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?”). Ym… and Y… are used similarly to the English “um…”.

[trmnllychill]

[assemblage2011]

Despite its utility, language defies categorical statements, and this slipperiness makes it beautiful, like an old friend you never tire of talking to.

Graham Meyer, Let’s Eat Grammar, MoMA catalog for Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language (via assemblage2011)

[jayaprada]

However the topic is considered, the problem of language has never been simply one problem among others. But never as much as at present has it invaded, as such, the global horizon of the most diverse researches and the most heterogeneous discourses, diverse and heterogeneous in their intention, method, and ideology. The devaluation of the word “language” itself, and how, in the very hold it has upon us, it betrays a loose vocabulary, the temptation of a cheap seduction, the passive yielding to fashion, the consciousness of the avant-garde, in other words-ignorance-are evidences of this effect. This inflation of the sign “language” is the inflation of the sign itself, absolute inflation, inflation itself. Yet, by one of its aspects or shadows, it is itself still a sign: this crisis is also a symptom. It indicates, as if in spite of itself, that a historico-metaphysical epoch must finally determine as language the totality of its problematic horizon. It must do so not only because all that desire had wished to wrest from the play of language finds itself recaptured within that play but also because, for the same reason, language itself is menaced in its very life, helpless, adrift in the threat of limitlessness, brought back to its own finitude at the very moment when its limits seem to disappear, when it ceases to be self assured, contained, and guaranteed by the infinite signified which seemed to exceed it.

Derrida, Of Grammatology, The End of the Book and the Beginning of Writing, pg 6 (translated by Spivak)

[akittyrph-deactivated20121215]

[writeworld-blog]

Holy crap this is useful.

[systemgender]

I love you.

[allthingslinguistic]

12 Ways to stop freezing up when you try to speak a second language

Making the shift from language classroom to real-life conversation can be hard, and it’s easy to panic/freeze up when you’re on the spot and you don’t know how to respond, or how to get people to stop switching to English with you. I got thinking recently about things that I do and that I’ve seen other fluent language learners do in order to manage this difficult situation, and ended up with the following 12 tips. 

1. Pre-think. What kinds of situations am I going to be in? What will people say/how will I respond? Basic situation ideas include: where/how you learned the language, where you’re from/what you do (and other biographic information), what you’re doing in the area and for how long, especially if you’ve travelled there to learn the language. Also think about how to describe things you’ve done recently or are planning to do. Think about who you’re going to see and what you could say to them. If a funny thing happens to you, describe it to yourself in the language, so it will be easier to tell someone else about later. This is a great time to look up how to say essential words. 

2. Re-think. When you have a conversation in the language that goes less-than-ideally, or where you had to switch languages, afterwards think about how you would have said things in the language so if the situation comes up again you are prepared. If you are trying to learn a language with few speakers around you, then you can also do this for any conversation you’ve had. This is also a good time to look stuff up. 

3. Learn filler words. Every speaker hesitates sometimes, so learn the equivalent of “ummm” and “ohh” in the language. Similarly, learn transition words/expressions like “and so”, “and then”, etc. This signals that when you don’t know what to say, it’s a content issue, not a language one, so people will be less likely to switch out of the language. 

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[humanitit]

Si sólo hablásemos cuando tenemos algo que decir, el uso del lenguaje desaparecería en dos generaciones.

Noel Clarasó

If we only spoke when we had something to say, the use of language would disappear in two generations.

[dbloom]

Droll, fast-moving animated history of the development of the English language. Interesting little factoid about the splintering of the language as it is spoken in dialects in countries such as Chinese as a second, third or whatever language, and as the Internet explosion increases the velocity of creation and distribution of new words of all kinds. 

[vowelsme]

Some good tips and ideas here.