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Article published In: Studies in Language
Vol. 49:2 (2025) ► pp.376–411

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Placeholders and interjective hesitators

A crosslinguistic and functional approach

ORCiD logo with link | Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Published online: 21 January 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.23057.ser
Abstract
In spontaneous discourse, a communicator may be unable or unwilling to produce certain words for contextual reasons. An effective strategy to overcome such difficulties is the use of a placeholder like whatchamacallit. It has been observed that in some languages, demonstrative-related placeholder forms also serve as an interjective hesitator, the type of expression illustrated with um, well, etc. This paper reveals that this functional duality is a broad phenomenon observed with not only demonstratives but also non-demonstrative forms such as wh-words. I investigate non-demonstrative forms in 14 languages and propose a functional account within Discourse Grammar. My contention is twofold: (i) syntactic, semantic, and prosodic differences between placeholders and interjective hesitators are reducible to differences between two grammatical domains, Sentence Grammar and Thetical Grammar; (ii) the functional duality is captured in terms of cooptation, a process whereby a Sentence Grammar unit is transferred to a Thetical Grammar unit.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Placeholder
    • 2.2Interjective hesitator
    • 2.3The issue
  • 3.Crosslinguistic survey
    • 3.1Yoron (Ryukyuan)
    • 3.2Korean (Isolate: Korea)
    • 3.3Chaozhou (Sino–Tibetan)
    • 3.4Arta, Ilocano, and Kapampangan (Austronesian)
    • 3.5Tagalog (Austronesian)
    • 3.6Agul (Northeast Caucasian)
    • 3.7Evenki (Tungusic)
    • 3.8Savosavo (Solomons East Papuan)
    • 3.9French (Indo–European)
    • 3.10Manambu (Sepic)
    • 3.11Hup (Nadahup)
    • 3.12Quechua (Quechuan)
    • 3.13Discussion
  • 4.Functional account
    • 4.1Discourse Grammar
    • 4.2Analysis
      • 4.2.1The first proposal
      • 4.2.2The second proposal
      • 4.2.3Summary
  • 5.Implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
  • Corpora
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