A : They've kind of been like fighting, y'know? (Baalen, 2001, par.10) Based on the types of fillers from Rose (1998), Baalen (2001), and
Stenstrm (1994), I conclude that two types of fillers, that is silent pauses and filled pauses consisting of unlexicalized filled pauses and lexicalized filled pauses.
Functions of Fillers
Although they do not result in any changes in the content, fillers in spoken interactions actually have many functions. According to Schiffrin (1978, p.154), fillers have various functions, depending upon the situation of the speaker. In addition, Schourup (1983, as cited in Fujita, 2002, par.6) says that fillers have multiple functions and allow the speaker to show his or her mental processes in an appropriate manner. There are at least seven functions of fillers that will be explained further. They are filling the pause, hesitating, holding a conversation turn, interrupting, empathizing, mitigating, and editing term (Rose, 1998, Stenstrm, 1994, Wu, 2001, and Baalen, 2001).
Filling the Pause
One function of fillers is to fill the pause in order to make the spoken interaction run smoothly. Fillers are used in the spoken interactions to fill the pause because those interactions are spontaneous and of course there are breaks and pauses. Those fillers help the speaker to break off the speech while continuing to articulate. However, the articulation is neither a word, nor part of a word (Stenstrm, 1994, p.7). Stenstrm also states that pauses and fillers help the speaker to play for time, to achieve smooth turn taking, to link a help for the speaker while manifesting the hearer's attention (1994, p.7). Besides, fillers also serve a chance to help the speaker avoiding a breakdown and taking over. The following is the examples of fillers that function to fill the pause.
and uh I went to parochial school ...
but if it was because of the negligence of somebody driving um of course that person would be responsible. (Rose, 2009, p.1)
Hesitating
Fillers can also function as hesitation devices. According to Foss and Hakes (1978, p.184), hesitations are pauses that increase in the places of a sentence when a speaker has difficult decision in using the words. Matthei and Roeper (1983, p.164) and Wu (2001, p.6) add that these fillers occur when the speaker must stop and think about what s/he will say next and when s/he is putting a sentence together. According to Hayamizu (2002, par.1), fillers are inevitable in spontaneous utterances because they are uttered when the thinking process cannot keep up with the speaking process. When the speed of speaking becomes faster than the speed of preparing its content, a speaker uses fillers until the next speech content resulting from the thinking process arrives at the speaking process.
For example:
