uhh, umm , eeehh etc

Guest   Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:02 am GMT
What do people say in your language as a filler when they are thinking of what to say?

In English - uh, um
Spanish - eh, eeh

What decides which sound someone uses? Does it reflect the vowel structure of the language?
Guest   Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:52 am GMT
Japanese - eeto
K. T.   Wed Jun 25, 2008 3:58 am GMT
In Japanese, people also hesitate with "ano". It's like "Well" in English or "Bueno" in Spanish. In French I have heard something like "euh" or "uh" at times and it seems that people will lengthen the ends of their words while they think of what to say. If you disagree, please write back.
Korean   Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:14 pm GMT
Korean - jeo.../jeogi jeo...
PARISIEN   Wed Jun 25, 2008 3:40 pm GMT
Really interesting topic.
I think most languages tend to use something like "er" or "eh"... In Scandinavia "ah" is frequently heard.

<< In French I have heard something like "euh" >>
-- This is right. "Euh", pronounced 'ΓΈ'.

<< Does it reflect the vowel structure of the language? >>
-- Maybe. 'Uh' or 'er' are indeed some kind of neutral point in the English phonetics. Following that approach, does 'euh' indicate a general shift towards closed front vowels in the French vowel system? This is not unlikely.
K. T.   Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:51 pm GMT
I wonder why more people do not reply to this question. It seems easy enough. Maybe I underestimate the number of people who post here.

"In Scandinavia "ah" is frequently heard." Parisian

Good to know.
Guest   Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:15 pm GMT
I say "ih"
Caspian   Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:16 pm GMT
In Chinese, they can say 'uh' but more common is the Chinese character for 'en' - it has the mouth/kou radical on the left. I qould type it but I am at work, I can't type Chinese here