Pertarų dažnumas ir įvairovė sakytinėje lietuvių kalboje
The frequency and variety of fillers in spoken Lithuanian language

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the research discussed in the article is to disclose the peculiarities of the use of fillers in the spoken Lithuanian language. Sakytinės lietuvių kalbos tekstynas (Corpus of Spoken Lithuanian, available at http://donelaitis.vdu.lt/sakytines-kalbos-tekstynas/) covering the 2006–2009 usage has been used for the research. The Corpus comprises 80 hours of transcribed language (amounting to 225 000 words in total) mostly consisting of dialogues and spontaneous, informal speech, yet including the more formal language from the prepared speeches of different speakers.The frequency and variety of fillers are analysed taking into account the types of spoken language distinguished according to publicity/privacy. It was found out that fillers account for 2.3 per cent of words in the spontaneous spoken language, while in the public language they are used markedly less and amount to 0.6 per cent of the total of the words used. The variety of fillers in the spontaneous spoken language is extensive as they are used frequently and tend to be picked from interlocutors. In this case, they usually do not perform any function and are used habitually rather than with the purpose of filling the silence. The research of fillers in the public language showed differences between the following two types: it has been found out that the academic communication and communication in the media differ not only in the frequency and variety of fillers but also in the peculiarities of usage. In the public media language, fillers are used to fill the silence, start a new topic or conversation with a new listener of the programme. In academic language, adverbs denoting affirmation usually turn into fillers (iš tikrųjų, žinoma, be abejo – ‘indeed, of course, no doubt’).

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