INTERJECTIONS

Welcome to this lecture headed “INTERJECTIONS”. We will be discussing all about interjections. Enjoy your lecture.

Interjections are words or phrases used for exclamation or protestation or command. They occasionally be on their own, but they are frequently present in a bigger structures.

Wow! I won the game!

Oh, I have no idea about that.

I don’t know what the heck you’re thinking about.

No, you oughtn’t to have done that.

The majority of gentle interjections are taken care of as parenthetical elements and set out from the rest of the sentence with a comma or group of commas. If the interjection is more vigorous, though, it is followed with an exclamation mark. Interjections are hardly ever used in formal or academic writing.

In grammar, an interjection or exclamation may be a word used to convey an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker (even though the majority of interjections have clear definitions). Filled pauses like uh, er, um are as well taken to be interjections. Interjections are frequently placed at the beginning of a sentence.

An interjection is from time to time expressed as a single word or non-sentence phrase, followed by a punctuation mark. The isolated usage of an interjection does not stand for a complete sentence in normal English writing. Therefore, in formal writing, the interjection will be placed into a larger sentence clause.

Interjection as a figure of speech means the use of one word. For instance, lawyers in the Nigeria and a few other countries round the world customarily say: Objection! or soldiers usually say: Fire!.

Conventional words like Hi, Bye and Goodbye are interjections, so also are exclamations like Cheers! and Hooray!. In fact, like a noun or a pronoun, they are very often characterized by exclamation marks depending on the stress of the attitude or the force of the emotion they are expressing. Well (a short form of “that is well”) can as well be used as an interjection:

“Well! That’s great!” or “Well, never mind!” Much profanity takes the form of interjections. A few linguists regard the pro-sentences yes, no, amen and okay as interjections, in view of the fact that they have no syntactical connection with other words and to a certain extent work as sentences themselves. Expressions like “Excuse me!”, “Sorry!”, “No thank you!”, “Oh dear!”, “Hey that’s mine!”, and similar ones frequently serve as interjections. Interjections can be phrases or even sentences, in addition to words like “Oh!” “Pooh!” “Wow!” or “sup!”.

 Interjections may be sub-classified into primary and secondary interjections.

Primary interjections  do not belong to and are not a derivative of any word category and in addition include onomatopoeia. In all probability, they derive from animal or human noises. Examples: Oops, Ouch!

Secondary interjections on the contrary are words with another meaning, most frequently substantives. Nevertheless, as an interjection they are utilized by themselves and express mental attitudes or states. For instances: Damn!, Hell!

Phonology

A lot of English interjections contain sounds, or are sounds as opposed to words, that do not (or very infrequently) subsist in regular English phonological inventory. For example:

Ahem [əʔəm], [ʔəʔəm], [əɦəm], or [ʔəhəm], (“attention!”) may contain a glottal stop [ʔ] or a [ɦ] in any dialect of English; the glottal stop is common in American English, some British dialects, and in other languages, such as German.

Gah [ɡæh] (“Gah, there’s nothing to do!”) ends with [h], which does not happen with regular English words.

Oops, an interjection made in response to the observation of a minor mistake, usually written as “Oops!” or “Whoops!”

Psst [psː] (“here!”), is another complete consonantal syllable-word, and its consonant bunch does not occur initially in regular English words.

Shh [ʃːː] (“quiet!”) is a completely consonantal syllable.

Tut-tut [ǀ ǀ] (“shame…”), also spelled tsk-tsk, is made up completely of clicks, which are an active portion of regular speech in a lot of African languages. This particular click is dental. (This as well has the spelling pronunciation [tʌt tʌt].)

Ugh [ʌx] (“repulsive!”) ends with a velar fricative consonant, which is if not constrained to just a few regional dialects of English, though is common in languages like Spanish, German, Gaelic and Russian.

Whew or phew [ɸɪu] (“what a relief!”), this is as well spelled shew, may begin with a bilabial fricative, a sound pronounced with a strong puff of air through the lips. This sound is a common phoneme in languages like Suki (a language of New Guinea) and Ewe and Logba (both spoken in Ghana).

Yeah [jɛ] (“yes”) ends with the short vowel [ɛ], or in a few dialects [æ], neither of which are present at the end of any standard English words.

Examples of Interjections

The dictionary defines interjection as an exclamation incorporated into a speech without grammatical connection to it or any of a category of words used in this way (Ex.: ouch! well!) … Looking further at a list of interjections may additionally explain this definition. An interjection is fundamentally nearly any word in English that you can put into a sentence to express emotions.

The list of interjections used in English is awfully long, just as the list of adjectives or adverbs would be. Just about any word or phrase can be utilized as an interjection, if it is inserted into a sentence to express emotion. For instance, if you hurt yourself, you might say “Joseph! That hurt.” Joseph would be the interjection. You could, on the other hand, also say “Ouch! That hurt.” Or “Dang! That hurt.” Or “Gee! That hurt!” or… well, as you have seen, this could go on and on.

Interjections do not at all times have to come at the beginning of a sentence either. For instance, if you said, “So, you don’t like cabbage too much, huh?” “Huh” would be the interjection on the end of that sentence, intended to put across the emotion or confusion (or perhaps sarcasm or apprehension at the dislike of cabbage).

Interjections can even be found right in the middle of a sentence. For example, “When I think about the number of interjections in English, good gracious, I don’t think I could ever list them all.” In this case, “good gracious” is the interjection, designed to convey your amazement at the number of interjections, or your dismay at the prospect of listing them all.

More Examples of interjections (bold):

Hey! Get off that bed!

Oh, that is shocking news.

Good! Now we can ride on.

Jeepers, that was close.

Yes and No

Introductory expressions like yes, no, indeed, and well are as well regarded as interjections.

For instance:

Indeed, this is not the first time the stand has collapsed.

Yes, I do intend to cover the bet.

I’m sure I don’t know half the people who come to my house. Indeed, for all I hear, I shouldn’t like to.

Well, it’s 1 a.m. Better go home and spend some quality time with the kids. (Homer Simpson)

Phew!

Some interjections are sounds.

Examples:

Phew! I am not trying that again.

Humph! I knew that last week. 

Mmmm, my compliments to the chef.

Ah! Don’t say you agree with me. When people be of the same opinion with me, I at all times feel that I must be wrong.

Ouch, I just stumbled over!

We have provided below a list of interjections with meanings and sample sentences. This list is not exclusive but does reflect the most frequently used ones.

Interjection	Meaning	Example
Ah	Expression of pleasure	Ah, that sounds good.
	Expression of realization	Ah, now I realize that.
	Expression of resignation	Ah well, let it be helped
	Expression of surprise	Ah! I’ve made it to the top school!
Alas	expression of grief or pity	Alas, she’s bedridden now.
Er	Expression of hesitation	Abuja is the capital of…er…Nigeria.

Punctuation with Interjections

An interjection can be followed by either a comma or an exclamation mark. A comma is used for a mild interjection, while an exclamation mark is used for a more sudden display of surprise, emotion, or deep feeling.

Hurry! The train is about to leave! 

Jeepers! That is the largest motorbike I have ever seen. 

No, I’m not travelling tomorrow night. 

Well, the tricycle moves faster than you would expect. 

Absolutely, a fifth of them do not count. 

Very frequently (as in the first example above), an interjection with an exclamation mark is followed by a sentence with an exclamation mark.

Not in Business Writing

Desist from making use of interjections in business writing.

What Is an Exclamatory Sentence (with Examples)

An exclamatory sentence, or exclamation, is a more vigorous side of declarative. In other words, an exclamatory sentence makes a statement (just like a declarative sentence), but it as well passes on excitement or emotion. An exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation mark (!)

Exclamatory sentences are widespread in adverts and informal writings like emails and text messages). They are relatively rare in business mail, where a level head more often than not is supposed to be exhibited.

Examples of Exclamatory Sentences

Below are a few examples of exclamatory sentences

You were meant to return to the school last Sunday!

(Expression of anger)

Jeepers! You scared the life out of me! Or you pissed me off!

(Expression of surprise)

We won!

(Expression of happiness)

This puzzle is driving me up the wall!

(Expression of frustration)

You’re adorable!

(Expression of love)

It’s a boy!

(Expression of joy)

I’m really going to miss this place!

(expression of sorrow).

Thanks for reaching to this point marking the end of this lecture.

Your Lecture Master:

Mst. Ugonwanne Joshua