Re: disfluencies/editing expressions

>
>     IME, there is a precedent for using more than a meaningless
>syllable as a gap-filler. I have heard Israelis, being dysfluent in Hebrew,
>filling gaps with, among other things, /ze/, which is the word for
>"this"-masculine-singular. I have even heard /ve  ze/, meaning
>"and this".
Certainly! In Japanese it's "ano," in Chinese it's "neige," and in
Spanish "este."

>     I have also never gotten around to the role of gesture in spoken
>rtemmu (although it sounds like an interesting avenue to pursue
>some day!), but I _have_  noticed, in Hebrew speakers,
>what seems to be a stuttered _gestural_ filler!
>Israelis will put the thumb against the first two fingers,
>hold them up and move them slightly away from the speaker
>as a gestural-filler/request for thinking time. But if the speaker's
>thoughts are not getting organized fast enough, the gesture may turn
>into a "stutter", as he repeatedly waves his fingers away from
>and back towards himself --- going faster the more his thoughts
>seem to be blocked!
That's interesting -- I'm going to ask the same question of ASL users.

Thanks for replying!
best,
Michael

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