<![CDATA[Language functions not only as a means of conveying information but also as a medium for expressing the speaker’s emotional states in social interaction. This study aims to describe the use of interjections as markers of expressive speech acts in early childhood. The research employs a qualitative approach with a descriptive method. The data were obtained from the utterances of a three-year-old boy, collected over a period of three weeks through participant observation and note-taking techniques. The data consist of utterances containing interjections. The findings reveal a total of 15 utterances, which are classified into six types of expressive speech acts: thanking, complaining, criticising, praising, apologising, and greeting. The results indicate that young children are capable of using simple linguistic forms to realise expressive functions in a contextualised manner. Furthermore, the meaning of utterances is highly dependent on situational context, including both verbal and non-verbal aspects accompanying the speech]]>
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