Variation and Change in the Use of Hesitation Markers in Germanic Languages
Open accessAbstract
In this study, we investigate crosslinguistic patterns in the alternation between UM, a hesitation marker consisting of a neutral vowel followed by a final labial nasal, and UH, a hesitation marker consisting of a neutral vowel in an open syllable. Based on a quantitative analysis of a range of spoken and written corpora, we identify clear and consistent patterns of change in the use of these forms in various Germanic languages (English, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese) and dialects (American English, British English), with the use of UM increasing over time relative to the use of UH. We also find that this pattern of change is generally led by women and more educated speakers. Finally, we propose a series of possible explanations for this surprising change in hesitation marker usage that is currently taking place across Germanic languages.
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The pattern of demographic differences in UM and UH is robust across American English, British English, Scottish English, Dutch, Norwegian, German, Danish, and Faroese.
“This pattern is robust across American English, British English, Scottish English, Dutch, Norwegian, German, Danish, and Faroese [59].”
From Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [59]
UH is used relatively more frequently by men, less educated individuals, and older generations than by women, more educated individuals, and younger generations.
“In contrast, UH is used relatively more frequently by men, less educated individuals, and older generations than by women, more educated individuals, and younger generations (M. [37, 59]).”
From Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [59]
UM is used relatively more often by women, educated individuals, and younger generations than by men, less educated individuals, and older generations.
“For example, UM is used relatively more often by women, educated individuals, and younger generations than by men, less educated individuals, and older generations.”
From Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [59]
If females have higher UM ratios than males, slight sex ratio differences across diagnostic groups could lead to erroneous results.
“If females have higher UM ratios than males [59], slight sex ratio differences across diagnostic groups could lead to erroneous results.”
From Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [59]
UM is a social pragmatic marker used more often by younger people and women than by older people and men.
“UM is a social pragmatic marker [21] used more often by younger people and women as compared to older people and men”
From Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [59]
UH is used relatively more often by older people and men than by younger people and women.
“UH is used relatively more often by older people and men than by younger people and women [59].”
From Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [59]
Typically developing boys and girls produced even higher UM ratios than adult men and women.
“who were found to produce even higher UM ratios than adult men and women [58–60].”
From Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [59]
High rates of UH (without corresponding increases in UM) might be so unusual in young people that they contribute to some individuals with ASD sounding older than they appear.
“high rates of UH (without corresponding increases in UM) might be so unusual in young people [59] that they contribute to some individuals with ASD sounding older than they appear”
From Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder (2017) · cites this paper as [59]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder
Parish-Morris, J., Liberman, M. Y., Cieri, C., Herrington, J. D., Yerys, B. E., Bateman, L., Donaher, J., Ferguson, E., Pandey, J., & Schultz, R. T. (2017) · Molecular Autism · doi:10.1186/s13229-017-0164-6 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Wieling, M., Grieve, J., Bouma, G., Fruehwald, J., Coleman, J., & Liberman, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Aston University (GB)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wieling, Martijn
- Grieve, Jack
- Bouma, Gosse
- Fruehwald, Josef
- Coleman, John
- Liberman, Mark
- Venue
- Language Dynamics and Change
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2016
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 199-234
- ISSN
- 2210-5824 (ISSN-L)
- 2210-5832
- OpenAlex
- W2279900378
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5
- FWCI
- 32.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- Language Dynamics and Change (publishedVersion)
- Aston Publications Explorer (Aston University) (acceptedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- The Mind Research Repository
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Linguistic Variation and Morphology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phonetics and Phonology Research
- Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies
- Keywords
- hesitation markers, Germanic languages, open syllables, language change, sociolinguistic variation, gender differences in language, American English, British English, Dutch language, German, Norwegian, Danish language, Faroese
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