Date:  Sat, 22 Nov 1997 11:53:58 -0500
From:  Pat Courts <courts[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AIT.FREDONIA.EDU>
Subject: Re: uh&duh

Regarding the well/why discussion, it seems to me that the disitnction
clearly depends on the intonation used by the speaker.

"Do you sleep in the nude?" #1."Why (very surprised that nayone would ask
such a question), yes I do." Or, #2."Why(of course, doesn't everyone) yes
I do." "Well" works in #1, but it seems to me that it is different in
#2--more like an admission than an assertion.

At 11:42 AM 11/22/97 -0500, Ron Butters wrote:
>Gregory J. Pulliam writes:
>
>>Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?
>>"_____, Grant."
>
>>I'm 40 and would say "well." But my
>>15 year old daughter and my 12 year
>>old son and my 7 year old son wouldn't
>>say "why" or "well," they'd say (in
>>the style of Beavis and/or Butthead)
>>"Uh, Lincoln?"
>
>Good answer, but does "Uh" really mean the same thing as both "Well" and
>"Why" in this context? Or is "Uh" only a filler that the pragmatic comment to
>be carried by the intonation?
>
>1. Q: Did you kill Mrs. Wayne?
>  A1: Uh, yes/no. (= Why, yes/no.) [certainty about some aspect of the
>exchange]
>  A2: Uh, yes/no? ( = Well, yes/no.) [uncertainty about . . .]
>2. Q: Who is buried in Grant's tomb?
>   A1: Uh, Grant. (= Why, Grant.)
>   A2: Uh, Grant? (= Well, Grant.)
>6. Do you sleep in the nude?
>   A1: Uh, yes/no. (=Why, yes.)
>   A1: Uh, yes/no? (= Well, yes.)
>
>The contemporary situation is further complicated by the form "Duh," which
>seems to function in initial position like "why"--but is not used (I think)
>unless the speaker feels that she will not insult her audience with so
>informal an utterance. Also, speakers do say, "Well, Duh!" And *Duh,
>yes/no?" are ill-formed.
>

Cheers,

Pat Courts