Although I don't tend to use it much, all of these uses of "eh?" proposed by both of you don't sound in the least bit strange to my ear (at least as I imagine hearing them). So perhaps either I've encountered a lot of Canucks in my wanderings, or it's common enough here in the States so that it doesn't raise many eyebrows.
Larry Latham
usage
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LarryLatham
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Sally Olsen
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Being orginally from Vancouver, Canada, I didn't say this but 30 years in Ottawa contributed "eh?" to my vocabulary and I don't even know I am saying it now. However, there are little patches of kids in Japan, Mongolia and Greenland that now have it in their vocabularies too. I explain it as - just look at the way we spell Canada - C eh N eh D eh! I also say "phffft" when I don't agree (from France), bow when I say I am sorry (from Japan) and raise my eyebrows to say hello or yes (from Greenland), oh and squish up my nose to say no. These non verbal linguistic clues are so much a part of really learning the language and you can see students adopting them over the course of study. When the kids did a movie including a scene of a "teacher" in the classroom, I saw all my non verbal language in plain view. They don't normally shrug their shoulders, stand with their arms crossed when they are mad, use their hands so much to talk, and put their finger in their ear (that must be a personal one).
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LarryLatham
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On line or in line, eh?
Hey everyone!
From Illinois, my pronunciation of the "r" was not the right one when I moved to Colorado. "Warsh" and "strawrberry" were common pronunciations in my part of the mid-west. And the funny little "eh" didn't get into my mouth until I moved to Spain and stopped speaking English altogether. Have tried to rid myself of it, but in the end, it has its uses. I had never considered it a Canada thing. Interesting to hear the comments on what I've sometimes considered a flaw in my Spanish usage!
peace,
revel.
From Illinois, my pronunciation of the "r" was not the right one when I moved to Colorado. "Warsh" and "strawrberry" were common pronunciations in my part of the mid-west. And the funny little "eh" didn't get into my mouth until I moved to Spain and stopped speaking English altogether. Have tried to rid myself of it, but in the end, it has its uses. I had never considered it a Canada thing. Interesting to hear the comments on what I've sometimes considered a flaw in my Spanish usage!
peace,
revel.
A as in Apple
Good morning.
wjserson, at first it was a dipthong, that is, the "a" and "e" long vowel sounds we make when we say the letter "A". Trying to control my dipthongs (which are usually not useful in speaking Spanish) I got it down to a nice simpel "ay" as in play without the "y buzz" at the end of the vowel.
At first it was a "making time" device, since I was still consciously constructing sentences in my conversation. Now it is simply a tag question, a kind of short "you know" or "you know what I mean?"
peace,
revel
wjserson, at first it was a dipthong, that is, the "a" and "e" long vowel sounds we make when we say the letter "A". Trying to control my dipthongs (which are usually not useful in speaking Spanish) I got it down to a nice simpel "ay" as in play without the "y buzz" at the end of the vowel.
At first it was a "making time" device, since I was still consciously constructing sentences in my conversation. Now it is simply a tag question, a kind of short "you know" or "you know what I mean?"
peace,
revel