What are, um, filler words?
A short analysis on Why do we, like, hesitate when we, um, speak? by Lorenzo García-Amaya.
Video Description: For as long as we’ve had language, some people have tried to control it. And some of the most frequent targets of this communication regulation are the ums, ers, and likes that pepper our conversations. These linguistic fillers occur roughly 2 to 3 times per minute in natural speech. So are ums and uhs just a habit we can’t break? Or is there more to them? Lorenzo García-Amaya investigates.
This well-put-together video has been stuck in my mind since I watched it a year ago. The use of these sounds and phrases are so often overlooked and sometimes frowned upon that it was surprising to learn that they could serve a legitimate purpose in conversation. Although, knowing more now, it seems that not much in language is ever truly irrelevant.
Though we have been lead to believe by popular media that people who existed hundreds of years ago lived their lives in complete absence of our mundane, this is far from the truth. As stated in the video, filler words were common and condemned by the ancient Greeks and Romans. In fact, throughout history it seems, we as humans have been plagued by these apparent “missteps” of language. For example, in my public speaking class, our teacher had us count the number of “ums”, “ahs”, and “likes” we would use during our speeches. Many were made completely unbeknownst to those who spoke them. It made me hyperaware of just how often these filler sounds are uttered.
In the breakdown of this video, these sounds, dubbed “filled pauses” and words such as like, well, and you know, dubbed “discourse markers”, have many uses. They range from simply indicating that a speaker is continuing to talk, engaging and including others in the conversation, or just allowing ones thoughts to catch up to their words. On this topic, studies done indicated that using one of these sounds before a word queues the brain into thinking the following word will be important. This then improves its retention. This priming showed how even toddlers benefit from this phenomena when learning a language.
In fact, most language have their own unique filled pauses and discourse markers, even sign language. Not only does this show how widespread fillers are, it also shows how intrinsic they must be for conversation. When learning a new language, these sounds can be used as support to brace awkward conversations, but once mastery is achieved, use of them is a sign of fluency. Personally, I think that using the proper fillers demonstrates competency, or at least demonstrates being on your way to competency, in any given language.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that filled pauses and discourse markers should be used in all situations. For instance in professional or presentation settings, the use of these fillers is frowned upon. The language you use changes situationally, and the way we have been taught, the use of these sounds and words indicate more casual surroundings. All of these little indications are perhaps why these fillers have stuck around for so long. After all, language really is telepathy with a few extra steps, changing thoughts to words and back to thoughts again. Filler words are just another tool for us do, adding a little more depth and meaning to our conversations.
