Information About

Interjection




Interjections are generally Uninflected Function Word s and have sometimes been seen as sentence-words, since they can replace or be replaced by a whole Sentence (they are Holophrastic ). Sometimes, however, interjections combine with other words to form sentences, but not with Finite Verb s.

Interjections are used when the speaker encounters events that cause these emotions — unexpectedly, painfully, surprisingly or in many other sudden ways. But several languages have interjections that cannot be related to emotions.

The word "interjection" literally means "thrown in between" from the Latin ''inter'' ("between") and ''iacere'' ("throw").


EXAMPLES IN ENGLISH

For a list of English interjections, see the at Wiktionary .


Conventions like '' Hello ,'' ''Bah,'' and '' Goodbye '' are interjections, as are exclamations like ''Cheers!'' and ''Hurray!''. In fact, very often they are characterized by Exclamation Mark s depending on the stress of the attitude or the force of the emotion they are expressing. ''Well'' can also be used as an interjection, for example when put at the beginning of a sentence. Much Profanity (see also Expletive ) takes the form of interjections. Some linguists consider the Pro-sentence s ''yes'', ''no'', '' Amen '' and '' Okay '' as interjections, since they have no syntactical connection with other words and rather work as sentences themselves. Expressions "Excuse me!", "Sorry!", and similar ones often serve as interjections. Interjections can be phrases or even sentences, as well as words:

:As I entered the room — Oh, my goodness! What I saw! — he was still standing there.


PHONOLOGY


Several English interjections contain sounds that do not, or very rarely, exist in regular English Phonological inventory. For example (pronunciation shown in IPA ):
  • ''Ahem'' , or ("attention!") contains a Glottal Stop that is common in German .

  • ''Shh'' ("quiet!") is an entirely consonantal syllable.

  • ''Ps'' ("here!"), also spelled ''psst'', is another entirely consonantal syllable-word, and its consonant cluster does not occur initially in regular English words.

  • ''Tut-tut'' ("shame..."), also spelled ''tsk-tsk'', is made up entirely of Click s, which are an active part of regular speech in several African Language s. This particular click is Dental .

  • : There is also a less popular pronunciation .

  • ''Ugh'' ("disgusting!") ends with a Spanish and Gaelic consonant, a Velar Fricative .

  • ''Whew/Phew'' ("what a relief!") starts with a Bilabial Fricative , a sound pronounced with a strong puff of air through the Lip s. This sound is a common phoneme in such languages as Suki (a language of New Guinea ) and Ewe and Logba (both spoken in Ghana ).

  • ''Gah'' ("Gah, there's nothing to do!"), pronounced how it is spelled, ends with [ H ], which does not occur with regular English words.



SEE ALSO