It depends - was it a foreigner who was having their throat checked? Although, yes, formally the ー mostly appears in katakana and after a vowel, there's a lot

It depends - was it a foreigner who was having their throat checked? Although, yes, formally the ー mostly appears in katakana and after a vowel, there's a lot of informal ways to use it. eg. んー？ - the sound of someone thinking or っー an extended pause (perhaps in surprise - something happened mid sentence to cut someone off suddenly and make their jaw drop). eg. just coincidentally, my friend posted this on instagram as I was typing this response. http://instagram.com/p/t-BznNC0Nw/ http://instagram.com/p/t-BznNC0Nw/ んーしみじみ n-- shimijimi. mmmm, deep thoughts...