Sammendrag
Verbal fillers are words or sounds that aid speakers to improve the quality of their speech. Fillers have various functions such as filling a pause, signalling a hesitation, softening the speech, amongst others. This thesis aims to address the verbal fillers that are used in Japanese language, their functions, and the connection between verbal fillers and gender difference. In order to achieve these objectives, 6 conversations consisting of 2 female-female groups, 2 male-male groups, and 2 female-male groups were collected. Each conversation lasted for 15 minutes, and the participants were asked to talk about whatever they wanted. Subsequently, by employing a mixture of quantitative and qualitative analysis, the fillers were counted and examined. Analysing the transcribed conversations led to interesting discoveries regarding how different groups utilized fillers. The results of the groups where the participants had the same gender, suggested that men used fillers more than women. Amongst other reasons, male participants seemed to acknowledge their friendship with the use of fillers, and female participants used fillers to signal their hesitation and their mental state. Noticeable differences in the two female-male groups were observed because the number of fillers increased drastically compared to the other four same-gender groups. This might be a result of the speakers’ attempt to sound more polite, compared to when they speak to someone with the same gender as themselves.