WHY IS “HUH” THE SAME IN SO MANY LANGUAGES?

WHY IS “HUH” THE SAME IN SO MANY LANGUAGES? The authors argue that “huh” serves the same purpose in each of the languages they consider—serving as what they call a “repair initiator” when a person has not understood what somebody has said. They ask: “Why do we find basically the same form –something like huh?– everywhere and not, say, bi in one language and rororo in the next?” They advance the answer that the form of the word has evolved to meet the needs of the environment in a similar way to the evolution in different species of similar body parts which provide an advantage (fins on sharks and dolphins, for example). They theorize that “huh” is well-suited to for use in a conversation involving turn taking because “huh” can be said quickly and with minimal effort.