The use of the interjection 'oh' across various age groups on the basis of the Abigail files in the CHILDES database

Abstract

The research undertaken aims to shed more light on the acquisition of the interjection oh on the basis of the Abigail files in the CHILDES database. The CHILDES database is a collection of transcripts of spoken interactions between the target child and his/her surroundings. The Abigail files comprise of data collected over four years, in which the child, Abigail was recorded at home at three-monthly intervals, a total of ten times. With regard to this paper, some approaches to interjections are sketched in the first part. Then, the general statistics of the use of oh are presented with reference to the functions it is used for by the participants of the interactions. Next, the most frequent three functions of oh are presented as calculated for the target child, the caregiver and a person of unknown age. Finally all functions of oh expressed in percentages with reference to the frequency of their occurrence are displayed.