> We sampled 31 languages from diverse language families around the world in this study, and we found that all of them have a word with a near-identical sound and function as English Huh?
Is there a table for this? I'm wondering, because I can't readily identify such word in my native language (although I have few candidates that may or may not fit the criteria...) At least, something like "huh" would sound absolutely alien if used in Russian. Phonetically closest I could remember would be "фух" [fuh], which has completely different meaning (sound for relief and/or tiredness, interchangeable with "уф" [uf]). And maybe "хе"/"хех" [he/heh], but that's omantopoeia for a snicker. Neither is normally pronounced with a questioning tone. Can't remember anything else sounding any close to "huh".
Just have a feeling that something like "eh?" or, possibly, "hm?" would be more universal. But I didn't any research, that's completely subjective perception.
Is there a table for this? I'm wondering, because I can't readily identify such word in my native language (although I have few candidates that may or may not fit the criteria...) At least, something like "huh" would sound absolutely alien if used in Russian. Phonetically closest I could remember would be "фух" [fuh], which has completely different meaning (sound for relief and/or tiredness, interchangeable with "уф" [uf]). And maybe "хе"/"хех" [he/heh], but that's omantopoeia for a snicker. Neither is normally pronounced with a questioning tone. Can't remember anything else sounding any close to "huh".
Just have a feeling that something like "eh?" or, possibly, "hm?" would be more universal. But I didn't any research, that's completely subjective perception.