haesitat

Haesitat is a neologism used in some discussions of spoken language to denote a micro-level hesitation pattern that occurs within a clause, distinct from general filler words such as um or er. It refers to a brief, non-lexical planning signal—often a short prolongation of a syllable, a breathy onset, or a minor glottal event—that speakers produce as they prepare upcoming material.

Origin and usage: The term was coined in informal linguistic discourse in the 2010s to distinguish this micro-planning signal from broader pauses. It has appeared in a limited number of experimental studies and online discussions, but it is not part of standard terminology in formal linguistics. Its acceptance varies, and some researchers treat it as a tentative label for observable phenomena rather than a widely validated category.

Characteristics: Haesitat tends to occur near points of syntactic planning pressure or discourse transitions. It can precede both function words and content words and may vary in its acoustic realization. Reported patterns include brief vowel lengthening, a rapid onset of the following segment, or a subtle shift in intonation immediately after the event. Because observations are context-dependent, haesitat is described as a potential marker of momentary planning load rather than a universal feature of speech.

Significance: In psycholinguistics and speech technology, haesitat has been proposed as a possible indicator of real-time planning processes and as a target for modeling naturalistic dialogue. Critics emphasize that evidence is preliminary and that the term remains debated and not yet standardized.

See also: hesitation, discourse marker, speech planning.