Sage-Tips

Where does the word hmm come from?

In the case of nasal consonants, such as English m (the final sound in Hmm), the mouth is occluded at some point by the lips or tongue and the air-stream is expelled entirely through the nose. So, thats where ‘Hmm’ comes from. On a lighter note, it came when the speaker was too lazy to open his or her mouth to say yes.

Who started hmm?

Hidden Markov models (HMMs), named after the Russian mathematician Andrey Andreyevich Markov, who developed much of relevant statistical theory, are introduced and studied in the early 1970s.

What is the meaning of hmm in old language?

Indicating thinking or pondering.

Is hmm in the Oxford dictionary?

hmm exclamation – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com.

What is hmm in French?

Translation of “hmm” in French. Adverb. hum. hein. non.

Is hmm a real word?

Hmm is technically categorized as an “interjection,” along with the likes of um, huh, ouch and wow. It’s also “sound symbolic,” along with onomatopoeia words like plop, ping or oink — “except that it’s symbolic of, really, nothing,” Liberman told Life’s Little Mysteries.

What does HMM mean in English?

or hmm. [hmm] interjection. (used typically to express thoughtful absorption, hesitation, doubt, or perplexity.)

What is the origin of the HMM sound?

While English speakers have long been making hmm sounds in everyday speech, hmm isn’t attested in the written record until the 1850s, probably as a variant form of hum, hem, and h’m, evidenced by the late 16th century. A simple vocalization, hmm is also incredibly versatile, used with different tones to mark discourse in many ways.

When did the word ‘Hum’ come into being?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the speech hesitation “hum” goes at least as far back as 1469. We also find “hem” from 1526, “haw” from 1679, and “er” from 1862. But these are only the first attestations of the words in print. It is likely that they go back much further than that. Michael Erard, in his book Um…:

What do the H- and M-sounds mean in poetry?

“The first h-sound is simply a substitute for breath, and the second m-sound, since the mouth is closed, is symbolic of the fact that we’re not quite sure what to say,” he said. The pause filler indicates that we’re temporarily speechless, but still engaged. The variety of tones we may take add subtle meaning to the interlude.