wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (01/07/86)
I eat lunch in Chinese restaurants a lot, and overhear the staff talking amongst themselves, in what I suppose is some version of Chinese. (I thought it used to be most likely that it was Cantonese, but do not know if that supposition is still accurate, what with the growth of more varieties of Chinese restaurants in America.) One thing I have repeatedly and commonly heard is what seems to be an exclamation, a long, drawn-out "aaaaahhhhhhh" sound. I cannot recall for sure if the pitch rises or falls during the utterance of this sound. Is this a word, a non-word exclamation, or some sort of verbal fill-in (like English speakers use "y'know")? Is it equivalent to the old, stereotyped and hokey Japanese "ah, so"? If so, is there some commonality among Oriental languages for using this particular sound in the same way? Is it used like an English speaker would use "Ah" in "Ah, yes, I see" where it could also be drawn out to length? Regards, Will