- What makes huh a word—and not, alternatively, the equivalent of a yelp? A laugh, cry or growl, however meaningful, isn’t considered language; even a dog communicates sadness with a whimper. A true word is learned, and follows certain linguistic rules, depending on the language spoken. Huh? fits this definition: For one thing, huh has no counterpart in the animal kingdom; for another, unlike innate vocalizations, children don’t use it until they start speaking. Moreover, in Russian, which doesn’t have an “h” sound, huh? sounds more like ah? In languages using a falling intonation for questions, like Icelandic, huh? also falls. All in all, Dingemanse concludes that huh? is a bona fide word with a specific purpose “crucial to our everyday language.”
This kind of qualifies as evidence for a Speech Act, in some way. Exhaling breath as a signifier of confusion, defeat, a discourse marker, etc. I'm betting that within languages and cultures there are different functions that the lexical item "huh" would take. There are other similar items to consider. Eh? - stereotypically a Canadianism used most often at the end of a sentence - has a different frequency than an "Ehhhhh, I don't know about that." Part of the problem is in how we transcribe it to a written code. Just some thoughts on the topic.
I find cultural invariants terribly romantic. In the adventure-and-idealism sense, not the candles-and-wine sense. Here is this thing— and there are so few— that binds all of humanity together. It inspires hope that we can work together, that there are things we all agree on. And maybe somehow we can build on these things to resolve the bigger disagreements.