Interjection
part of speech that usually has no grammatical connection to the rest of the sentence and simply expresses emotion on the part of the speaker, although most interjections have clear definitions.
Interjections are uninflected function words that express the attitude or emotion of the speaker. They are used when the speaker encounters events that cause these emotions — unexpectedly, painfully, surprisingly or in many other sudden ways.
The word "interjection" literally means "something thrown in between" from the Latin inter ("between") and jacer ("throw").
English
Examples in English include ugh, wow, ouch, scat, alas. Conventions like Hello and Goodbye are also interjections, as are exclamations like Cheers! and Hurray!. In fact, very often they are characterized by exclamation marks depending on the stress of the attitude or the force of the emotion they are expressing. Well can also be used as an interjection, for example when put at the beginning of a sentence. Much profanity takes the form of interjections (and many other parts of speech). See also expletive.
Interjections can be phrases or even sentences as well as words:
- As I entered the room — Oh, my God! What I saw! — he was still standing there.
English interjection phonetics
Several interjections contains sounds that do not, or very rarely, exist in regular English phonetic inventory. For example,
- Ahem [@?@m] ("attention!") contains a glottal stop that is common in German.
- sh [S] ("quiet!") is an entirely consonantal syllable.
- Ps [ps] ("here!"), also spelled psst, is another entirely consonantal syllable-word.
- Tsk-tsk [ʇʇ] ("shame..."), also spelled tut-tut, is made up entirely of clicks, which is an active part of regular speech in several African languages. This particular click is alveolar.
- There is also a less popular pronunciation [tVt tVt].
- Ugh [Vx] ("disgusting!") ends with a German and Gaelic consonant, a velar fricative.
- Whew [P\Iu] ("what a relief!") starts with a bilabial fricative, a sound pronounced with a strong buff of air through the lips. This sound is a part of the native speech of Suki, a language on New Guinea.
Other languages
Almost all Chinese interjections are written with the radicals "mouth" (口) on the left. Where this is the case, the right part is purely phonetic. An exception is eh!.
Popular interjections are:
- Aiya! (哎吼 or 噯呀 ai4ya0): expresses disappointment and displeasure, sometimes accompanied by shock and reproach
- It is used by a small number of non-Chinese in areas with a high concentration of overseas Chinese. The TV series Firefly occasionally uses it as well.
- 嘖嘖 has meaning and pronunciation like its English counterpart tsk-tsk (See #English interjection phonetics). 嘖嘖 is also an onomatopoeia of the chirping of some bird species. It occasionally conformed into the Chinese phonology and pronouced zézé (in Pinyin).
Interjection plays an important grammatical role in the Cantonese language, such as the sentence-end -ah! that has numerous meanings.
(in SAMPA)
Common filler pauses:
- nu - 'well'
- ve... - /vav haxibur/ the usual Hebrew conjunction word, 'and'
- em - slight confusion
- ups
- oj
Modern hebrew also has several interjections containing sounds external to regular Hebrew phonetic inventory, mostly [w] in different Exclamations:
Others:
- S [S] ("quiet!") Is first sound of the word 'Seket' SAMPA, meaning 'quiet!'.
