I don't speak or read Greek, but I do want to note that this counterexample does not prove there is no "huh"-like repair initiator in Greek.

In American English, there is "Eh?" "Huh?" and "Eh?" are similar in function but sound different.

The "h" sound (/ɦ/, I think) does not exist in Greek, but I agree that "Eh" sounds closer to the Greek exclamation than "huh".

On the other hand, the article seems to say that it's specifically "huh" that's universal. Anyway, I'm just curious to see how many counter-examples we can find.

Funnily enough, Ancient Greek did have a leading h- sound. It’s since disappeared, along with tonal accents and some vowel sounds.

I’m not sure the h itself is really necessary for the main argument, but possibly it got dropped somewhere along the way? That’s pure speculation though, I haven’t seen any evidence for that in print.

In Brazilian Portuguese

- ə

Or a nazalised /ɐ/

French: hein \ɛ̃\

Or "euh"

Not in France, as far as I know - or I'd be curious to know in which region it is used like this.

"Euh" is typically the equivalent of "erm"; it signals hesitation [1]. It can also be uttered when a person is surprised.

[1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/euh

I am French and I took the definition of "huh" from the article:

> Huh is a very specific repair strategy that does not target some part of the statement but rather the statement as a whole.

... and I misread it :). I missed the word repair.

You are absolutely correct with the definition of "euh" - I usually use it when I have doubts or do not agree in a soft way (it then sounds more like heeuuuu...pfff).

Parisian native here, studied linguistics and specifically French/English in college, it's been many years. In my experience there is no equivalent to the use of "huh" in a single word in French so this article title made me a bit skeptical. Couldn't find any corroboration in the linked article. Only hinging that there "rough" equivalents to "huh" in all languages.

As you two suggested, "huh" is tricky to adapt to as a native French speaker learning English, especially American English, because "huh" is not equivalent to any single easily muttered statements in French as far as I know. I would convey the meaning of "huh" in French with: - "ah ouais" (express that I didn't realize something) - "bah dis donc" (express soft surprise or shock) - "mouais" (express soft skepticism or disapproval)

Even those don't quite feel like the encompass the uses cases for "huh".

One thing that stuck out to me in the article is that they only mention one meaning of "huh". As you have pointed out, there are multiple meanings of "huh". You have "huh?" meaning "I don't understand, please repeat and clarify". There is "huh???" for "express soft skepticism or disapproval". And "huh!" for "express soft surprise or shock". Or "huh." for "express that I didn't realize something". Even "huh..." for "I need to think about this more".