Variation and Change in the Use of Hesitation Markers in Germanic Languages

Language Dynamics and Change

Authors

Martijn Wieling

Jack Grieve

Gosse Bouma

Josef Fruehwald

John Coleman

M. Liberman

Published

2016

Doi

10.1163/22105832-00602001

Abstract

In this study, we investigate crosslinguistic patterns in the alternation between um, a hesitation marker consisting of a neutral vowel followed by a final labial nasal, and uh, a hesitation marker consisting of a neutral vowel in an open syllable. Based on a quantitative analysis of a range of spoken and written corpora, we identify clear and consistent patterns of change in the use of these forms in various Germanic languages (English, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese) and dialects (American English, British English), with the use of um increasing over time relative to the use of uh. We also find that this pattern of change is generally led by women and more educated speakers. Finally, we propose a series of possible explanations for this surprising change in hesitation marker usage that is currently taking place across Germanic languages.

Citation

BibTeX citation:

@article{wieling2016,
  author = {Wieling, Martijn and Grieve, Jack and Bouma, Gosse and
    Fruehwald, Josef and Coleman, John and Liberman, M.},
  title = {Variation and {Change} in the {Use} of {Hesitation} {Markers}
    in {Germanic} {Languages}},
  journal = {Language Dynamics and Change},
  volume = {6},
  number = {2},
  pages = {199-234},
  date = {2016},
  url = {https://github.com/JoFrhwld/jofrhwld.github.io/research/papers/Wieling_2016_FU9RXCUV.html},
  doi = {10.1163/22105832-00602001},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {In this study, we investigate crosslinguistic patterns in
    the alternation between um, a hesitation marker consisting of a
    neutral vowel followed by a final labial nasal, and uh, a hesitation
    marker consisting of a neutral vowel in an open syllable. Based on a
    quantitative analysis of a range of spoken and written corpora, we
    identify clear and consistent patterns of change in the use of these
    forms in various Germanic languages (English, Dutch, German,
    Norwegian, Danish, Faroese) and dialects (American English, British
    English), with the use of um increasing over time relative to the
    use of uh. We also find that this pattern of change is generally led
    by women and more educated speakers. Finally, we propose a series of
    possible explanations for this surprising change in hesitation
    marker usage that is currently taking place across Germanic
    languages.}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

Wieling, Martijn, Jack Grieve, Gosse Bouma, Josef Fruehwald, John Coleman, and M. Liberman. 2016. “Variation and Change in the Use of Hesitation Markers in Germanic Languages.” Language Dynamics and Change 6 (2): 199–234. https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-00602001.