¡°Yes,¡± ¡°No,¡± ¡°I see,¡± ¡°Got it,¡± ¡°Here,¡± ¡°Still here,¡± ¡°Here you are,¡± ¡°OK,¡± ¡°What?¡± Hard to believe one single word can have so many different meanings. Particularly if it¡¯s one that looks as innocent and undemanding as ¡°hai.¡±
This false first impression may result from hai¡¯s famous but dull part in the old response pairing of ¤Ï¤¤ (hai, yes) and ¤¤¤¤¤¨ (iie, no). But just as communication involves a lot more than just answering yes/no questions, that¡¯s only a tiny bit of what ¤Ï¤¤ can really do.
Likely its most important function lies in the domain of backchanneling, Ïà¤Å¤Á (aizuchi) in Japanese. Together with its more casual peers ¤¦¤ó (un), ¤¨©` (¨¥) and a couple of others, it occurs in high frequency in everyday conversations. ¡°Go on, I¡¯m (still) listening¡± is what it says to the current speaker, if not in so many words.
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