Interjections, phonetics, and the body

Abstract

Emotive interjections are normally associated with the spoken language, but in this article, I will investigate the use of two interjections, åh ‘oh’ and puha ‘whew’ in written communication on Facebook – on the two Danish Facebook groups built around the illness and death of two young children in 2015: “Fighting for Magnus (Miv)” and “Commemorative site for Lærke Rønde Timm”. Interjections are understood as affective expressions because they reflect some of the bodily reactions and participatory investment of the followers of the two groups.  The main argument in the article is that the participants write interjections as a way to deal with affective extraordinary experiences. Through phonetic analysis the interjections are seen as bodily felt and triggered reaction.