Page 45 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

SPECIAL TOPICS IN INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE GRAMMAR
riC h h'(i :333:3L+
((ti r+a)) rz$e, ,@,a3 cF@+5- L~~L>~=T, 2msri~;e
-=-cdr-fi/v~:~fm, ((;i;i)), ~~saj5.g~+~=.Xegj~1~r~/vr:,
If- Cr<
((+i ~+fil)), thT, $6 EC2R?;i6?-?&3-c L3 ~kblt, ((ti ah
T-rtiP))
(You know I've been terribly busy these days. ((right)) So, I wanted to
make a trip for a change. And I went to a travel agent ((yes)), but I
couldn't get the ticket easily. ((Is that right?)) So in the end I gave up
the idea. ((Is that right?)))
It should be noted that in English aizuchi (typically 'uh-huh' or 'yeah') is
seldom used. In fact, frequent use of aizuchi creates an impression that the
hearer is not paying serious attention to what is being said. Not only verbally,
but also nonverbally, the Japanese hearer nods very frequently to indicate
his 1 her involvement with what the speaker has to say.

B. Fillers
While aizuchi is a strategy available for the hearer, a filler is a strategy avail-
able for the speaker.
First, the particle ne in (5) and (6) is a typical filler that indicates the
speaker's attempt to involve the hearer. (5) is an example of informal speech,
and (6) is an example of formal speech in which ne is preceded by desu. This
use of desu ne is most commonly used in business Japanese.
DtliL.t
(5) i+~iia, 1.~&4&7% 11 fii~11;-~~-=~&~b, %~$?~:--@7~3-=fi
-
/v l5,
(lit. Yesterday, y'know, Tom suddenly came here from the States,
y'know, and stayed overnight at my house.)

(This is the new software I mentioned the other day, and if you have
time I'd appreciate it if you could use it on an experimental basis.)
However, too many ne's in a single sentence makes the sentence very awk-
ward, as shown in (7).