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Um versus UhUms and uhs do different things in speech. Ums indicate the expectation of upcoming major delays, and uhs indicate the expectation of upcoming minor delays (Clark & Fox Tree, 2002). The form of the filler (um versus uh) varies independently from the lengths (short versus long vowels). Ums and uhs have different effects on the recognition of spontaneously produced words in a speech stream. Uhs speed up the recognition of upcoming words in sentences but ums don't, a result that can be attributed to their differing roles in anticipating the lengths of upcoming pauses (Fox Tree, 2001). Attention may be heightened after hearing an uh in anticipation of the short upcoming pause and continuation, but it may not be after um because of the indeterminacy of the upcoming delay. Um does, however, have other effects on language comprehension. When speakers begin their turns with um, overhearers judge them to have more speech production difficulty, to be less honest, and to be less comfortable with the topic under discussion (Fox Tree, 2002). They have this effect because signalled delays imply more planning difficulties than unsignalled delays. Planning time increases with production difficulty, deception, and figuring out how to talk about a difficult subject. Across studies, results support the hypothesis that ums and uhs signal upcoming delays, and listeners use this information in interpreting speech.Clark, H. H., & Fox Tree, J. E. (2002) Using uh and um in spontaneous speaking. Cognition, 84, 73-111. Fox Tree, J. E. (2001). Listeners' uses of um and uh in speech comprehension. Memory andCognition, 29(2), 320-326. Fox Tree, J. E. (2002). Interpreting pauses and ums at turn exchanges. Discourse Processes, 34(1), 37-55. |
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