Grammaire

Introduction

Nowadays, people or in this case students just know interjection as just separate and independent unit. They said that interjection is the simplest of parts of speech because we just have to look at the exclamation mark in the end of words, phrases or sentences to know that it is an interjection but that people did not know that interjection is not as simple as they thought. Interjection has kinds, classification, function, form, meaning and etc. So in speaking English, we have to pay attention in using interjection. In fact, every language including English consists of sounds and sound pattern, basic unit of meaning or words, and rules to combine them to form new sentences. Those elements constitute the grammar of the language. Therefore, to understand a language, people have to know its grammar. But in conversation sometimes people use utterances that grammatically have no connection with the previous or next sentences. They use it to express their feeling or perform a certain sense, it is called interjection.

 

 

3. 1. Definition

§  Interjections = Ignites = "Ignites the message with an exclamation of emotions" §  The word "interjection" means "inserting or putting between."

 

           Interjections are words, group of words, sounds or filled pause used to express strong feelings, emotions, sudden sensations, mental state, attitude, communicative intention and fill a pause in a conversation on the part of the speaker when he encounters suddenly events that cause some emotions. They are words or sounds thrown into sentences to express some feeling and state of the mind. Interjections can stand alone as a separate unit or be added to a sentence. When added to sentence, the interjection does not change the meaning of the sentence, and are usually followed by exclamation marks (when the emotion is strong). When woven into a sentence, the interjection usually change or affect the meaning of the sentence, they are usually followed by commas (when the emotion is mild). It is worth to mention that interjections are short exclamations like Oh!, Um or Ah! They have no real grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually more in speaking than in writing.

           Furthermore, interjections are sudden outcry or exclamation introduced into a discussion, usually without grammatical connection with the sentences surrounding it. That is why they are the easiest part of speech to find in a sentence. They are straightforward and simple to use because they are not related to any other word in the sentence. In daily conversation, consciously or unconsciously people always involve interjection in it. Historically, nevertheless, they are often entirely ignored, or at best, regarded as being extremely marginal, anomalous, and grammatically peripheral to the language system itself which is relatively noticeable in modern grammars. See the following examples for more clarification.

·        Aha, it is there. Here we say this interjection when someone finds something spontaneously.   

·        Wow! Did you see that she wrote in her e-mail message?

·        Oops! I forgot to send the attachment.

·        Gracious! It sounds quite good.

·        Oh! I could not catch it.

·        My goodness! That is so funny, amazing and interesting.

Important Note Since interjections are properly linguistic elements, with rich semantic structures. However, whilst the grammarians agreed that since they have real semantic structure; interjections are classified as part of speech and henceforth are parts of language.

 

3. Characteristics of Interjections

         Interjections are one of the eight parts of speech, along with nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. As one of the part of speech, interjections have certain characteristics which can make it easier to recognize them. These are several characteristics of interjections that the writer of the book found from the researches about interjections that have been made by some experts.

§  Interjections often serve no purpose except to express emotion or to get the attention of other people. They are used in private conversation and informal writing. They are usually not used in business letters and formal writing.

§  Interjections usually have a position in the beginning of a sentence, but it is also possible to have them in the very end of a sentence.

§  Interjections are syntactically independent that can stand on their own as utterances.

§  Interjections are context-bound linguistic signs.

§  Interjections tend to be phonologically anomalous.

§  Interjections do not normally take inflections or derivations. They are also morphologically anomalous.

§  Do not overuse interjections. Include one when you want to make your point. If you use too many interjections, your writing loses its power and effectiveness.

2. Kinds of Interjections

           There are different ways of classifying interjections. There is a classification of interjections based on the form of interjections, this classification divides interjections into two types there are primary Interjections and secondary Interjections. Furthermore, another classification of interjections is based on the communicative function of interjection. This classification divides interjections into expressive interjections, conative interjections and phatic interjections.

2. 2. Primary Interjections

            Primary Interjections are little words or non-words which can stand on its own. Primary Interjections may be made up of sounds and sounds sequences that are not found in other parts of the language such as tut-tut, Psst!, Sh!, and etc. Primary Interjections consist of one word and they do not enter into syntactic constructions of the language, they form a fairly a closed set of words. Primary interjections are words that cannot be used in any other sense than as an interjection. Furthermore, their scale extends from spontaneous onomatopoetic ad hoc formations to conversational lexical items of foreign origin. One of the defining features of a primary interjection is that it is a linguistic sign “which is not homophonous with another lexical item that would be perceived as semantically related to it”, or perhaps “which is not homophonous with other lexical items whose meaning would be included in its own meaning, that is, in the meaning of the interjection. These interjections tend to be phonologically and morphologically anomalous because they are non-productive words or items in the sense that they do not inflect and are not movable between different word-classes. For example, Ouch!, Wow!, Gee!, Oho!, Oops!, etc. Example in sentence:

·        Hi, you look like you see it!

·        Oho, I have another cake! Wow!

·        You look extraordinary today Ouch!

·        This plant hurts me Oops!

 

2. 2. Secondary Interjections

         Secondary Interjections are those words which have independent semantic values but can be used conventionally as utterances by themselves to express a mental attitude or state. These interjections are fixed unit derived from words or phrases mainly nouns, noun phrases, imperative that have developed pragmatic meaning related to subjectivity or discourse structuring. Secondary interjections are more complicated since they are classified together with exclamatory phrases. The examples of secondary interjections are alarm calls and attention getters like Help! Fire! Careful!, etc. Swearing, oaths, pious wishes, greeting formulas and taboo words like damn! Hell!, Heavens!, Christ! And other emotively used words such as Shame! Bother! …….…... it is worth to note that both types of interjection are syntactically independent, in that they can constitute an utterance by themselves, and are only loosely integrated into the grammar of the clause containing them. Example in sentence:

·        It is very heavy bag. Help!

·        The dangerous terrorist is there. Fire!

·        Careful! The car is going to crash.

·        Shame! Take on you r clothes.

3. Functions of Interjections

There are three functions of interjections; expressive interjections, conative interjections and phatic interjections.

§  Expressive Interjections are vocal gestures which are symptoms of the speaker's mental state. They may be subdivided into two groups: Emotive Interjections are those that express the speaker's state with respect to the emotions and sensations they have at the time such a, Yuk! „I feel disgust‟, Wow! „I am surprised‟, Ouch! „I feel pain‟ etc. Cognitive Interjections are those that pertain to the state of knowledge and thoughts of the speaker's at the time of the utterance. For example, Aha! „I know this‟.

§   Conative Interjections are those expressions which are directed at an auditor. They either aimed at getting someone's attention or they demand on action or response from someone of a speaker's wants. For example, sh! „I want silence here‟, eh? „I want to know something‟.

§  Phatic Interjections are used in the establishment and maintenance of communicative contact. A variety of conventional vocalizations, which express a speaker's mental attitude towards the ongoing discourse, that is back channeling or feedback signaling vocalizations, may be classified as phatic. For instance, mhm, uh-uh, yeah ………………………………………………...

 

4. Punctuation for Interjections

        Strong interjections such as "Good," "Hey," "Hooray," "Ouch," and "Wow" are punctuated with an exclamation point (!). The first word following the exclamation point is capitalized because it is the first word of the next sentence. Example: "Hey! What are you doing out there?" "Hey" is a strong interjection and is followed by an exclamation point.

        Weaker interjections such as "Ah," "Alas," "Oh," and "Well" are followed by a comma and become part of the following sentence. The word after the comma is not capitalized (unless it is the pronoun "I" or a proper noun) because it is a continuation of the sentence. Examples: "Oh, what a beautiful day!" "Well, I am not surprised."

 

3. 2. The Most Common Interjections

The table below lists some of the most common interjections.

The most common interjections
aw!                      bravo!                                                   dear me! ouch! yuck! oh my goodness! ah! owe some!	goodness!             gracious!                       gosh!                          hey!      oh! oh my God! shut up! oh boy! super!	oops!                          ouch!     rats!                     really                          ugh! ah! thank God! never! god grief!	well! whoops              wow!                            yeh!                           yes! sorry! yups! no way! ho-hum!

 

4. Meanings of Interjections

Interjections have a remarkable capacity for expressing a variety of meanings as other different parts of speech. So it is necessary to know which interjection to use and in which sense meaning and situation. The table and expression below presents the most used interjections in terms of the interjection word, meanings and uses.

 

 

Meaning	interjections	Examples
Anger	damn! damnation! The devil! fuck! hell! shit!	Damn! You made me crazy.
Annoyance	bother! Son of a bitch! tut!	This is not the right answer, bother!
Approval	hear! …………..	Hear! It is right.
Contempt	hum! pish!  phoo! poof!pouf! shoo!	Hum! I do not like it.
Delight	pah! wow! goody!  wizzo!	Wow! I am impressed.
Disgust	rot! shit! humph! shoot!	Shoot! It is very awkward smell.
Enthusiasm	wahoo! hubba! ouch!	Ouch! I must have my own plan.
Fear	oh! no! ………………	The lion is just here, oh!
Impatience	chut! oops! zut!	Oops! Do it now before the exam.
Irritation	hell! hoot! lord! Upon my word!	Pay attention, upon my word!
Joy	heyday! whee! wheep!	Wheep! That is great.
Pain	ouch! oh! ah! yow!	Ouch! Me too
Pity	Dear me! och! oche!	Dear me! I need you.
Pleasure	yum! good! aha! boy!	Aha! I have idea.
Relief	whew! whoof!	Whoof! Finally it is ok.
Sorrow	heck! heh! ay! ah! las!	Heck! I lost my average.
Surprise	dear! Dear me! oops! The devil! gracious!	Oops! It is alright.
Sympathy	now! tsk!	I feel you, tsk!
Triumph	aha! ha! so!	Aha! This is a great victory.
Wonder	crazy! gee! heydey! what! wow!	Wow! It is a good idea.
·        Express surprise or astonishment, in a positive or negative way such as “Oh!”
·        Express unexpected important news.
·        Express of astonishment as the interjection “Why, for God’s sake?”
·        Fill a pause in conversation, as the expression “Ummm.”
·        Express to tell a child “Absolutely not.”
·        Express to keep quiet, as used in English. Shhh!

 

Summary

Ø Interjections are little words or non-words which can stand on their own and have their own word class or part of speech in English. They can be inserted more or less randomly into any sentence.

Ø Interjections are relatively conventionalized vocal gestures (or more generally linguistics gestures) which express a speaker's mental state, action or attitude or reaction to a situation.

Ø Interjection is uninflected function words that express the attitude or emotion of the speaker. Besides being self-oriented expressions of emotions and attitude, interjection may also be directed at someone to acquire a desired reaction, for example to stop an action or to serve communicative intentions more broadly.

Ø Interjections do not have any particularly well-defined relationship with the rest of the sentences. In fact, when diagramming sentences the interjections are best ignored. However, they are not difficult to spot. In writing interjections are often separated from the rest of the sentence by the punctuation mark. So they that they do not bear grammatical relationships to other phenomena in language.

Ø Interjections can be an actual word, or merely a sound.

Ø Interjections are not used in the academic language. They are used only in the personal and private language forms.

Recapitulation to the Part of Speech

There are eight parts of speech in English.  A part of speech is a category into which one places a word depending on how it functions in a sentence.  The same word may be different parts of speech, depending on the word’s use in the sentence. Only a close examination of what a word is doing in a sentence reveals its part of speech. Parts of speech may be grouped in this way:

Ø Nouns and pronouns are names.

Ø Verbs are actions and state of being.

Ø Adjectives and adverbs are modifiers.

Ø Prepositions and conjunctions are joining words, clauses, phrases, sentence in a sentence.

Ø Interjections are exclamations.

In short, the following sentence illustrates all eight parts of speech.

·        Well, I certainly will submit a resume and application letter to them.

Ø The word "well" is an interjection

Ø The word "I" is a pronoun –personal pronoun-

Ø The word "certainly" is an adverb

Ø The word "will" is an auxiliary verb –helping verb-

Ø The word "submit" is an main verb –ordinary verb-

Ø The word "will + submit" is a verb –full verb word-

Ø The word "a" is an article -indefinite article-

Ø The word "resume" is noun –countable noun- 

Ø The word "and" is a conjunction

Ø The word "application" is an adjective

Ø The word "letter" is a noun

Ø The word "to" is a preposition

Ø The word "them" is a pronoun –objective case-

Important Note  5: Students should always remember that English is a wonderfully flexible language. As noted earlier, many words serve as more than one part of speech depending on the context of the word in the sentence. So students must count on the context around the word not on the word in isolation. The form of a word is not a sure guide to the class it belongs to. So a word is categorized by its function as well as by its form. See the examples below for more clarifications. ·        The word fast in isolation does not have a particular part of speech. While the same word in the sentences below acts as an adverb, verb and noun because it is mentioned in different sentences. ·        He ran fast so he wouldn’t be late for his classes. (describes how he ran...adverb) ·        They will fast to raise money for the charity organization. (tells about an action...verb) ·        Their fast lasted for whole one month. (names a thing...noun)

 

Exercise 1

Direction: Find out the interjection in each sentence.

1.     Oh! What shall I do now?

2.     Alas! She is no more.

3.     Ah! They have left me alone.

4.     Hush! The baby is sleeping.

5.     Bravo! You deserve this prize.

6.     What! Is he again late?

 

Exercise 2

Direction: Read and Underline the interjections in the following sentences. Check your answers in the answer key.

1.     Wow, did you see that jet!

2.     Oh no! He lost the puck.

3.     Ouch! That hurts.

4.     No! Don’t touch the brake.

5.     Yuck, I hate boiled cabbage.

Exercise 3

Direction: Suggest an appropriate interjection for each of the following sentences in the space provided. Many suggestions are possible.

1.     . ………..! I smashed my hand with the hammer.

2.     …………, all right, Ann.

3.     ………… ! We have finally beaten that famous football team!

4.     …..............  take it easy, Stephan!

5.     .…..……., I think we better look over this case immediately.

6.     . …..……. I forgot to take out the bag this morning.

7.     ……..…… ! The tickets for his scene are incredibly expensive!

8.     ……..….... ! You did so well in tonight’s school play!

9.     ……..…… ! You have no freedom to say that to him!

10. . …………, now I see what you are trying to do.

11. . …..…… I am not very interested on that idea.

12. .……..….., what did Ann say about her tryout?

13. ………..... ! Does your foot still hurt from the accident?

14. …………. ! Get away from my house, John!

15. . ,……….. this drink is absolutely delicious!

 

Exercise 4: Mixed Parts of Speech

Direction: Identify the part of speech of every word in each sentence.

1.     We jogged quickly through the dark woods.

2.     Most of the students listened politely.

3.     She was giving a short but interesting lecture.

4.     We bought a very small quantity of food yesterday.

5.     The wind was cold, but the sun was really warm.

6.     This book cost six dollars.

7.     Sheila and he were talking to her when it happened.

8.     The American fishermen caught two salmon for lunch.

9.     Turn at the lights and go two blocks west.

10. Eric and they learned very quickly.