language in Teletubbies

[Shelley L. Velleman]

In the shows that I've watched, there are times when "hello" is clearly
the target word (based on context) and others when "uh-oh" is.  I
haven't gone back and counted our transcriptions, but I believe that
"hello" has [E] more often as its first vowel, while "uh-oh" more often
has [^]..  At times, only the context can differentiate them (or, at
least, the ear can't).

Maria Margaronis, in an article in The Nation (3/16/98), quotes a
statement which she was required to sign, to confirm "my understanding
of some salient Teletubby facts" before she was allowed to interview Ken
Viselman, American representative of Ragdoll Productions.  This
statement, reportedly, included the following:  "The Teletubbies do not
say 'haro' as reported in various stories in the U.K. and U.S. press.
They say 'eh-oh' and 'oh-oh'."  So, apparently, Ragdoll Productions
intends these to be two different word forms.

By the way, I mis-spelled my collaborator's name in my first message:
It's Sarah _Schmit_ (no "d").  Sorry, Sarah!

Shelley Velleman