The Chinese Particle Le: Discourse Construction and by Marinus van den Berg, Guo Wu

By Marinus van den Berg, Guo Wu

Ever because the commence of chinese language linguistic reports, the outline of the chinese language particle LE has remained elusive. The class has advanced from an inventory of sentences and the dialogue of contrastive pairs to a extra context and discourse--oriented research. the improvement lately of inferential types and scenario semantics has opened the way in which for a renewed research of using the chinese language particle LE. the current publication discusses the chinese language information from a 'mental house' standpoint and brings out the function so -called chinese language 'sentence LE' performs within the development and upkeep of discourse.

Show description

Read Online or Download The Chinese Particle Le: Discourse Construction and Pragmatic Marking in Chinese PDF

Similar education books

The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards"

During this “lively, provocative and well-researched book" (Theodore Sizer), Alfie Kohn builds a robust argument opposed to the “back to basics" philosophy of training and simplistic calls for to “raise the bar. " Drawing on tales from actual school rooms and broad study, Kohn exhibits mom and dad, educators, and others attracted to the controversy how colleges might help scholars discover principles instead of filling them with forgettable proof and getting ready them for standardized exams.

Managers and Mandarins in China The Building of an International Business Alliance (Routledgestudies on the Chinese Economy)

This study explores the query as to if the best way chinese language administration handles clash is essentially various from in different places or a lot an identical. It does so through interpreting intimately a world three way partnership building venture, the place managers rooted in contrasting company platforms have been introduced jointly, and through exhibiting how the undertaking stepped forward over the years, how a number of clash occasions arose, and the way they have been dealt with.

The Human Rights of Aliens under International and Comparative law (International Studies in Human Rights)

This quantity offers with the fundamental human rights of extraterrestrial beings from the point of view of overseas and comparative legislations. It examines the principles concerning therapy of extraterrestrial beings and the level to which those principles were followed within the household laws of greater than forty varied states. It goals to accomplish simple targets: 1) to outline the prestige of extraterrestrial beings below foreign legislations, that's, which rights are granted to each individual by means of overseas tools; and a couple of) to set up no matter if this algorithm has been followed through the household laws of the states less than assessment.

Additional info for The Chinese Particle Le: Discourse Construction and Pragmatic Marking in Chinese

Sample text

Chang’s findings can be summarised as follows: A Le functions as a discourse-final particle in Mandarin Chinese. B Native speakers of Chinese may vary in their use of le as a discourse unit is not an absolute division. C Le can be used as a marker between sub-topical discourse units since such units are relative. D Le is not used in cases where expressions of classical flavour are included. E Le is not used in factual statements, where a ‘change of state’ reading is undesirable. These observations are limited to expository and narrative discourse, and the question therefore remains to what extent the distinctions can be applied to conversational and other exchanges.

We support these observations and will claim that the presence of shared common ground is a prerequisite for the successful use of the particle le. D: What happens next Another class of situations proposed by Li and Thompson (15 examples on pp. 278–82) in which a state of affairs is relevant includes those in which that ‘state of affairs’ determines what happens next. 29) [project known to addressee] Wo xi-hao-le yifu le. ) Such a le sentence is often used to announce that a new state of affairs is just about to be realised, and the hearer is expected to make an appropriate response.

12) Wo huilai le. ’ In these examples, the reference time is or includes the speech time, and, as we have seen, in other instances this is the time of a past situation. Chao’s two categories – ‘Completed action as of the present’ and ‘Isolated event in the past’ – both relate a past situation to the present interaction, and the main difference is the time of the past situation; that is, whether it has just been completed or was completed some time ago. What we need to look for is a mechanism that explains why in both instances the particle le is used or can be used.

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.30 of 5 – based on 43 votes