mmmkay? and its kin

[Dennis R. Preston]

>arnold,

>I can't remember the South Park teacher's name (he with a friend
>named Mr. Hat I believe, although in the episode I saw last night he
>was unfaithful to Mr. Hat with Mr. Stick), but he tags nearly half
>of his uterances with "mmmmmkay." The effect is striking and is
>clearly a part of his "characterization."


dInIs





>from Genre magazine, August 2004, p.30, article on digital cameras:
>
>-------------
>Finally, cameras that use rechargeable batteries will lkely save you
>money in the long run, mmmkay?
>-------------
>
>i'm familiar with "ok?" (or even "ok!") produced with an initial
>prenasalized velar stop.  does this have a labial component for some
>speakers?  a *prolonged* one?  can it be used as an agreement marker as
>well as a question marker?
>
>there are a few "nkay?" web hits on google, no relevant ones for
>"ngkay?", but large numbers for "mkay?", "mmkay?", "mmmkay?", and some
>even for "mmmmkay?", "mmmmmkay?", "mmmmmmkay?", and "mmmmmmmkay?"
>(though once you get past three m's, google asks if you meant
>"mmmkay?").
>
>let me know if anyone's studied the phonetics and/or pragmatics here,
>mmmkay?
>
>arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)