The role of interjections goes even deeper than regulating the flow of conversation. Interjections also help in negotiating the ground rules of a conversation. Every time two people converse, they need to establish an understanding of where each is coming from: what each participant knows to begin with, what they think the other person knows, and how much detail they want to hear. Much of this work—what linguists call “grounding”—is carried out by interjections.
~ from Huh? The Valuable Role of Interjections
As podcasters (those of us who have guests) we’re of course interested in all those little filler words and sounds. We all know the Golden Rule: Cut out anything that is distracting to the listener.
Reading that essay, it’s clear the critical role all those extra sounds play to those people who are conversing… but I was left wondering how important those same sounds are to those people who are passively listening. It seems to me, they are equally critical. The speakers need to use non-words for “traffic signaling” and “negotiation”—so they can decide what best to say next. But now I’m also thinking people listening need them to in order to understand why each person said what they said.
ɕ