View source for English interjections

{{Short description|Interjections in the English language}}
{{good article}}
{{English grammar}}
'''English interjections''' are a category of English [[word]]s – such as ''yeah'', ''ouch'', ''Jesus'', ''oh'', ''mercy'', ''yuck'', etc. – whose defining features are the infrequency with which they combine with other words to form [[Phrase structure grammar|phrases]], their loose connection to other elements in [[Clause|clauses]], and their tendency to express emotive meaning. These features separate English interjections from the language's other [[lexical categories]], such as [[English nouns|nouns]] and [[English verbs|verbs]]. Though English interjections, like [[Interjection|interjections in general]], are often overlooked in descriptions of the language, English grammars do offer minimal descriptions of the category. 

In terms of their [[phonology]], English interjections are typically separated from the surrounding discourses by pauses, and they can contain sounds not otherwise found in English. English interjections tend not to take [[Inflection|inflectional]] or derivational [[Morpheme|morphemes]]. In terms of their syntax, they tend not to form [[Constituent (linguistics)|constituents]] with other words and are [[Parenthesis (rhetoric)|parenthetical]] rather than integrated into the clauses in which they occur. [[Semantically]], they often have emotive or interpersonal meanings and their use is sometimes called exclamatory. English interjections fill several [[Pragmatics|pragmatic]] roles in English, including greeting and indicating agreement.

== History in English grammars ==
In 1586, [[William Bullokar]] wrote the [[History of English grammars|earliest grammar of English]], which included a small section on interjections. His definition of English interjections focused on the semantic and pragmatic dimensions of the words:<blockquote>An interjection is a part of speech that betokeneth a sudden passion of the mind: the signification or meaning of which speech much be understanded by the gesture, countenance, or passion of the speaker, and some time with regard of the person spoken to, or of the thing spoken of.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bullokar|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cUYIAQAAIAAJ|title=Pamphlet for Grammar, 1586|date=1980|publisher=University of Leeds, School of English|location=Leeds|language=en|oclc=38680398}}</ref>{{Rp|373}} (orthography has been modernized)</blockquote>In 1795, [[Lindley Murray]] offered a definition of English interjections that made note of their syntactic properties in addition to their pragmatic properties, defining them as "words thrown in between the parts of a sentence to express the passions or emotions of the speaker: as, 'Oh! I have alienated my friend; alas I fear for life:' 'O virtue! how amiable thou art!'"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Lindley |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.45966 |title=English Grammar ... |publisher=J.B. Baldwin |year=1824 |location=Bridgeport, Ct. |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|119}}

In the early twentieth century, [[Otto Jespersen]] rejected the idea that English interjections are a lexical category at all, treating interjections instead as a manner in which words of other lexical categories may be used (such as the noun ''Fiddlesticks!'' and the verb ''Come!'').<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jespersen|first=Otto|title=The Philosophy of Grammar|publisher=Routledge|year=2007|isbn=978-0-203-71604-5|location=Abingdon, Oxon|oclc=1229250728|orig-year=1924}}</ref>{{Rp|90}}

Later in the twentieth century, ''[[A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language]]'' included interjections in its list of word classes but conceded that they are a "marginal and anomalous class."<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=A Comprehensive grammar of the English language|date=1985|publisher=Longman|others=Randolph Quirk|isbn=0-582-51734-6|location=London|oclc=11533395}}</ref>{{Rp|67}} It also noted that interjections differ from similar word classes in that "they are grammatically peripheral, in the sense that they do not enter into constructions with other word classes, and are only loosely connected to sentences with which they may be orthographically or phonologically associated."<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|74}}

In their ''Student's Introduction to English Grammar'', [[Rodney Huddleston]] and [[Geoffrey K. Pullum]] omit interjections from their list of lexical categories because, in their view, "there really isn't anything interesting for a grammar to say" about interjections.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney D. |title=A student's introduction to English grammar |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey K. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-521-61288-8 |location=Cambridge |oclc=57574762}}</ref>{{Rp|16}}

== Typical examples ==
Though the number of traditionally recognized English interjections is relatively small compared to other lexical categories, [[Nonce word|nonce]] interjections can be freely created through [[onomatopoeia]].<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|74}} Thus, a complete list of English interjections is impossible. However, very common interjections can be listed. The most frequent words [[Part-of-speech tagging|tagged]] as interjections in the Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE){{Efn|The countries and regions represented in the corpus are: Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, India, the Republic of Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and the United States|group=upper-alpha}} include ''yes'', ''no'', ''oh'', ''yeah'', ''hi'', ''hey'', ''wow'', ''hello'', ''ah'', ''ha'', ''blah'', ''eh'', ''yep'', ''o'', ''alas'', ''haha'', ''cheers, huh'', and ''hmm''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=*.[uh] |url=https://www.english-corpora.org/glowbe/?c=glowbe&q=108084764 |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE)}}</ref>
== English interjections vs. other types of words ==
=== Interjections vs. nouns ===
There are a number of English interjections with religious connotations that are derived from nouns (e.g., ''Jesus'', ''Christ'', ''God'', ''heavens'', ''hell'').<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Gehweiler|first=Elke|date=2008-01-01|title=From proper name to primary interjection: The case of gee!|url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jhp.9.1.05geh|journal=Journal of Historical Pragmatics|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|pages=71–88|doi=10.1075/jhp.9.1.05geh|issn=1566-5852}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The main difference, between these interjections and their corresponding nouns is that the interjections have been bleached of their original meaning; that is, they are no longer used to refer to the entity that the noun originally referred to.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|72}} For example, the interjection ''Jesus'' does not actually refer to a person or thing whereas the noun often does.
=== Interjections vs. verbs ===
Another subcategory of English interjections includes words derived from verbs. This derivation from verbs is most apparent when they occur with noun phrase [[Complement (linguistics)|complements]], as in ''Damn these mosquitoes! ''(expressing frustration).''<ref name="CGEL p.374">{{cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey K. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-521-43146-0 |location=Cambridge}}</ref>{{Rp|1361fn}} ''But in such cases, there is no subject present or intended, as there would be with a verb. ''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'' concludes that "it may be best to regard such words as exceptional interjections that combine with an NP [noun phrase] complement to form an interjection phrase."''<ref name="CGEL p.374" />{{Rp|1361fn}}''

Some verbs are formed from interjections meaning "utter the interjection", for example, ''he <u>humphed</u> and sat down'' or ''I <u>shooed</u> them out the door'' or ''The audience <u>booed</u> when he stepped on stage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Biese |first=Yrjö Moses |url= |title=Origin and development of conversions in English |publisher=Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia |year=1941 |location=Helsinki |pages=178–214 |oclc=905796466}}</ref> These can be distinguished from interjections by their ability to inflect for tense'' (see {{section link||Morphology}})''.''

=== Interjections vs. adverbs ===
Linguists and lexicographers do not agree on where the boundary between interjection and [[English adverbs|adverb]] should be marked in English. Because English interjections do not inflect, some dictionaries and grammars have classified certain interjections as adverbs, another lexical category that tends not to inflect.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|106}} The ''Oxford English Dictionary'', for example, classifies the word ''pop'' in ''pop went the cork'' as an adverb rather than an interjection.<ref>{{Cite OED|term=pop|access-date=2021-07-28}}</ref> However, linguists such as Maruszka Eve Marie Meinard argue that the two categories can be distinguished on syntactic grounds: interjections are syntactically isolated while adverbs can form constituents with other words.<ref name=":6">Meinard, Maruszka Eve Marie (2015). "Distinguishing onomatopoeias from interjections". ''Journal of Pragmatics''. '''76''': 150–168. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.1016/j.pragma.2014.11.011.</ref>{{Rp|152}} Under this view, the ''pop'' in ''pop went the cork'' is not an adverb because it is not signifying that the cork had "gone in a popping manner"; rather, ''went'' is introducing a kind of [[direct speech]], much as in ''John went "wow"''. Meinard argues that because direct speech is syntactically isolated from the clause that introduces it, words like ''pop'' and ''wow'' in these examples behave more like interjections than adverbs.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|152}} 

Some adverbs overlap in their distribution with interjections. For example, ''certainly'' and ''probably'' can appear where ''yeah'' or ''yes'' can, albeit as upgraded and downgraded confirmations respectively.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stivers |first1=Tanya |title=How We Manage Social Relationships Through Answers to Questions: The Case of Interjections |journal=Discourse Processes |date=2019 |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=191–209 |doi=10.1080/0163853X.2018.1441214|s2cid=149409949 }}</ref>

=== Interjections vs. fillers ===
Fillers are words like ''well'' and ''um'' that fill gaps in discourse while speakers search for words. Fillers share certain features with interjections, most notably they are distinct from the rest of the clause in terms of both prosody and syntax, which has led to many English dictionaries classifying fillers as a kind of interjection.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|153}} For example, both the ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|American Heritage Dictionary]]'' and ''[[Merriam-Webster dictionary|Merriam-Webster Dictionary]]'' classify ''um'' as an interjection.<ref>“um.” ''[https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=um The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]'' (online). n.d. Retrieved 2021-07-28.</ref><ref>“Um.” ''[[mwod:um|Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary]]'' (online). n.d. Retrieved 2021-07-28.</ref> However, some psycholinguists, such as Daniel C. O’Connell and Sabine Kowal, treat English interjections and fillers as different categories, arguing that (1) English interjections tend to occur without pauses before or after them whereas fillers tend to occur after a pause, (2) English interjections can introduce citations while fillers do not, and (3) English interjections tend to receive emphasis, such as through loudness or articulation rate, whereas fillers do not.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=O’Connell|first1=Daniel C.|last2=Kowal|first2=Sabine|date=2005|title=Uh and Um Revisited: Are They Interjections for Signaling Delay?|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10936-005-9164-3|journal=Journal of Psycholinguistic Research|language=en|volume=34|issue=6|pages=555–576|doi=10.1007/s10936-005-9164-3|pmid=16341914|s2cid=22556367|issn=0090-6905}}</ref>

=== Interjections vs. routine formulae ===
[[Florian Coulmas]] defines routine formulae as "highly conventionalized prepatterned expressions whose occurrence is tied to more or less standard communication situations."<ref>Coulmas, Florian (1981). "Introduction: Conversational routine." In Coulmas (Ed.), ''Conversational routine : Explorations in standardized communication situations and prepatterned speech'' (pp. 1–18). Berlin: Mouton. pp. 2–3.</ref> In English, this category includes words such as ''bye'', ''hello'', ''sorry'', ''thank you'', and the like. In [[traditional grammar]], routine formulae are categorized as interjections.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|109}} [[Felix Ameka]] has questioned applying this categorization to English, citing three primary objections. First, routine formulae have [[Interlocutor (linguistics)|addressees]] while interjections do not; that is, formulae are directed ''to'' someone while interjections may or may not be directed ''at'' someone. Second, routine formulae are predictable responses to social conventions while interjections are not; for example, a person might say "thank you" because that is the expected response in a social context, say receiving a gift. Third, routine formulae are always [[Speech act|speech acts]] while interjections merely reflect the mental states of the speaker.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|109–110}} Other linguists, such as David P. Wilkins, have argued that routine formulae share important characteristics with interjections in both English and Italian, and distinctions like those that Ameka discusses only suggest that routine formulae are "a distinct pragmatic and semantic subtype of interjections," not a lexical category of their own.<ref name=":7">Wilkins, David P. (1992). "Interjections as deictics". ''Journal of Pragmatics''. '''18''' (2–3): 119–158. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.1016/0378-2166(92)90049-H. p. 142.</ref>

== Syntax ==
=== English interjections as heads of phrases ===
Little has been said about the syntax of English interjections apart from that they generally do not form [[Phrase structure grammar|phrases]] or constituents with other words.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|101}} But English interjections derived from verbs may exceptionally combine with noun phrase [[Complement (linguistics)|complements]], such as the noun phrase ''these mosquitoes'' in ''damn these mosquitoes''.<ref name="CGEL p.374" />{{Rp|1361fn}} ''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'' suggests treating these exceptional phrases as "interjection phrases" with the interjection (e.g., ''damn'') as a [[Head (linguistics)|head]] and the noun phrase (e.g., ''these mosquitoes'') as a complement.<ref name="CGEL p.374" />{{Rp|1361fn}}

In exceptional cases, English interjections derived from nouns can take modifiers (e.g., ''holy cow'', ''hot damn'', ''bloody hell'', etc.).<ref name=":2">''[https://www.ldoceonline.com/ Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]'' (online). n.d. Retrieved 2021-07-28.</ref> Conventionalized pairs like ''oh boy'', ''oh my'', ''fuck yeah'', ''aw shucks'', ''good bye'', ''ho hum'', etc. also exist.<ref name=":2" /> Bloomfield calls these conventionalized pairs "secondary interjections", and some linguists, such as Ameka, call them "interjectional phrases".<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Ameka|first=Felix|year=1992|title=Interjections: The universal yet neglected part of speech|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(92)90048-g|journal=Journal of Pragmatics|volume=18|issue=2–3|pages=101–118|doi=10.1016/0378-2166(92)90048-g|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0011-5356-1|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

=== Function ===
Syntactically, English interjections primarily function as supplements, that is "parenthetical strings that are not integrated in clause structure, including what are called non-restrictive relative clauses in other frameworks, as well as certain [[Adjunct (grammar)|adjuncts]] and disjuncts."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |first1=Bas |last1=Aarts | first2=Sylvia |last2=Chalker | first3=Edmund | last3=Weiner | authorlink3=Edmund Weiner |title=The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-174444-0 |edition=Second |location=Oxford}}</ref>{{Rp|404}} In the sentence ''Damn, we're going to be late!'', for example, the interjection ''damn'' is not a complement or modifier of anything in the rest of the clause but, rather, is appended to the beginning of the clause as a supplement.

Though their function as supplements is one of the defining features of English interjections, the supplement function may be realized by other units in English. These include relative clauses, noun phrases, [[English adjectives|adjective]] phrases, prepositional phrases, and adverb phrases:<ref name="CGEL p.374" />{{Rp|1356}}

* Interjection: ''<u>Ah</u>, so you were there after all!''
* Relative clause: ''We called in to see Sue's parents, <u>which made us rather late</u>''.
* Noun phrase: ''A university professor, <u>Dr. Brown</u>, was arrested for the crime''.
* Adjective phrase: ''The editor, <u>angry at the delay</u>, resigned from the project.''
* Adverb phrase: ''<u>Frankly</u>, I think we could do better ourselves.''

== Pragmatics ==
From the point of view of [[pragmatics]], English interjections typically have exclamatory or imperative [[Illocutionary act|force]]; for example, ''ouch!'' is an exclamation expressing the speaker's pain and ''hush!'' issues a demand for the addressees to become silent. However, they can also be used to convey statements and questions (such as in ''uh-huh'' and ''eh?'', respectively).<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|88}} English interjections can be used to greet people or call attention (e.g., ''hey'', ''hello''), show agreement (e.g., ''yes'', ''amen'', ''okay'') or disagreement (e.g., ''no'', ''uh-uh''), indicate understanding (e.g., ''oh'', ''uh-huh'') or lack thereof (e.g., ''huh''), demand silence (e.g., ''sh''), make a polite request (e.g., ''please''), show disinterest (e.g., ''meh''), or even invoke magic (e.g., ''abracadabra'').<ref name=":2" />

Many of the most common English interjections (see {{Section link|2=Typical examples|nopage=y}}) are primarily involved in interactions between users of the language, maintaining the integrity of the conversation through [[Backchannel (linguistics)|backchanneling]] and marking affirmation.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Dingemanse|first=Mark|date=2020-01-02|title=Between Sound and Speech: Liminal Signs in Interaction|journal=Research on Language and Social Interaction|language=en|volume=53|issue=1|pages=188–196|doi=10.1080/08351813.2020.1712967|s2cid=216317985|issn=0835-1813|doi-access=free|hdl=21.11116/0000-0005-5164-F|hdl-access=free}}</ref> For example, a listener may say "yeah" or "uh-huh" to signal their attention to and understanding of a speaker's words.

== Semantics ==
[[Semantics|Semantically]] speaking, English interjections do not [[Sense and reference|refer]]; that is, while other lexical classes like nouns and verbs typically reference particular participants or processes that exist or could exist in the world, English interjections tend to merely express the internal states of their users.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Leech |first=Geoffrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9GqBgAAQBAJ |title=Glossary of English Grammar |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7486-2691-5 |location=Edinburgh |language=en}}</ref> Many express [[emotion]]s such as anger (e.g., ''damn''), disgust (e.g., ''eww'', ''yuck''), surprise (e.g., ''wow''), regret (e.g., ''alas''), or embarrassment (e.g., ''shucks'').<ref name=":2" /> They can also signify pain (e.g., ''ow''), bad smells (e.g., ''pew''), a mistake (e.g., ''oops''), or a sudden realization (e.g., ''eureka'').

== Morphology ==
English interjections tend not to inflect or form through derivation.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|106}} Some other lexical categories in English also tend not to inflect but still carry inflectional morphemes associated with other categories; for instance, English prepositions tend not to inflect, but the prepositions ''barring'' and ''concerning'' contain remnants of the -''ing'' suffix of present participle verb forms.<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|669}} The same is true of English interjections. For example, the interjections ''heavens'' and ''bollocks'' contain remnants of the plural -''s'' inflectional suffix from when they were nouns.<ref name=":2" />

== Phonology ==
[[Phonology|Phonologically]], English interjections or interjection phrases are often supplements and, as such, are typically separated by a pause from the other utterances with which they may co-occur, constituting a [[prosodic unit]] by themselves.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|108}}<ref name="CGEL p.374" />{{Rp|25}} This disruption to the typical [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosody]] of the clause is represented in writing through punctuation – such as commas, dashes, and parentheses.<ref name="CGEL p.374" />{{Rp|67}} For instance, the dash in the previous sentence marks such a disruption.

English interjections may exhibit phonological features that are not typical of the language. For example, the interjection ''uh-oh'' ({{IPA-all|əʔo}}) is a rare case of a [[glottal stop]] in dialects of English that otherwise lack such stops.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nordquist|first=Richard|year=2018|title=Learn the Meaning of a Glottal Stop In Phonetics and English|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/glottal-stop-phonetics-1690901|access-date=2021-06-28|website=ThoughtCo|language=en}}</ref> Other examples of English interjections containing phonemes not normally found in English include the [[Dental click|denti-alveolar clicks]] in ''tut-tut'' ({{IPA-all|ǀǀ}}), the [[voiceless bilabial fricative]] in ''whew'' ({{IPA-all|ɸɪu}}), and (for dialects that no longer use it) the [[voiceless velar fricative]] in ''ugh'' ({{IPA-all|əx}}). [[Spelling pronunciation|Spelling pronunciations]] often emerge for interjections that feature these atypical phonemes, including {{IPAc-en|t|ə|t|_|t|ə|t}} for ''tut-tut'' and {{IPAc-en|ə|g|}} for ''ugh''.<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|853}}

== Variation ==
Use of interjections [[Variation (linguistics)|varies]] over time and between speaker groups. 

Geographical variation can be seen in the use of interjections like ''lah'', which are found almost exclusively in Singapore and Malaysia in the GloWbE corpus,<ref>{{Cite web |title=lah |url=https://www.english-corpora.org/glowbe/?c=glowbe&q=108085050 |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE)}}</ref> ''yaar'', which is almost entirely limited to India and Pakistan,<ref>{{Cite web |title=yaar |url=https://www.english-corpora.org/glowbe/?c=glowbe&q=108084938 |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE)}}</ref> or ''haba'', which is almost entirely limited to Nigeria.<ref>{{Cite web |title=haba |url=https://www.english-corpora.org/glowbe/?c=glowbe&q=108085093 |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE)}}</ref> Variation can also exist among speaker groups within one area. For example, the interjection ''word'' indicating agreement is characteristic of [[African-American English]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lauture |first=Christelle |title=African American Vernacular English: Categories of Necessity in a Language that Refuses to be Standard |url=https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol15/iss1/16 |journal=Undergraduate Review |date=2020|volume=15 |pages=166–183}}</ref>

Two examples of variation over time can be seen in the Corpus of Historical American English, which shows that ''nay'' was among the most common interjections in 1820 but by the 2010s had become significantly less common.<ref>{{Cite web |title=nay |url=https://www.english-corpora.org/coha/?c=coha&q=108088028 |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Corpus of Historical American English}}</ref> In contrast, ''yeah'' does not occur in the corpus in 1820, but is among the most used interjections by the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=yeah |url=https://www.english-corpora.org/coha/?c=coha&q=108088045 |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Corpus of Historical American English}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Notelist-ua}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:English grammar|Interjections]]
[[Category:Interjections]]
[[Category:Interjections by language]]
[[Category:English words]]