Doctoral Dissertation Research: From the Distal Demonstrative to a Stance Marker: On na in Mandarin Chinese Conversation

博士论文研究：从末指示语到立场标记：普通话会话中的“na”

• 批准号: 1844770
• 负责人: Hongyin Tao
• 金额: $ 1.41万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-03-15 至 2021-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1844770&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Distal; Demonstrative

All languages have words to indicate entities that are being referred to. These words (e.g. this and that), known in linguistics as demonstratives, are typically used to focus the hearer's attention on entities in the speech situation. Over time, some of these words evolve and may develop various kinds of new functions such as connectives and hesitation signals. Despite the universality of demonstratives across languages, demonstratives differ in how they change and why they evolve in certain ways. Although demonstratives have long been a key research topic in linguistics, we know surprisingly little about how demonstratives and demonstrative-derived pragmatic markers are used in spontaneous face-to-face conversation. This is due to the fact that the most commonly used genres in linguistic analysis are written discourse and oral narratives rather than spoken discourse. The results and transcriptions will help applied linguists and L2 educators develop more effective materials for teaching Mandarin Chinese, a critical language designated by the U.S. government. The project database will enhance the infrastructure for language-related research and education, and will contribute to the training of students. This dissertation project recognizes the methodological limitations in previous text-based analyses and investigates how the distal demonstrative na 'that' is used in Mandarin Chinese everyday conversation from a discourse-pragmatic perspective. Apart from its canonical usage as a distal demonstrative, na has various kinds of extended and nuanced discourse functions. This project sets out to identify and classify different uses of na, with a special focus on its previously overlooked non-referential discourse pragmatic functions. More specifically, it will uncover sequential contexts, functional accounts, and positions of na using both a quantitative approach and qualitative analysis. The primary goal is to offer a systematic analysis that accounts for all the occurrences and functions of na by speakers in actual everyday conversation. The secondary goal is to shed light on a better understanding of robust similarities and subtle language specific variations in the grammaticalization and/or pragmaticalization of demonstratives, particularly the non-deictic uses of pragmatic markers derived from demonstratives. This dissertation project will contribute to a deeper understanding of a common human language phenomenon with fresh data and from an interactional perspective.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

所有语言都有单词来指示所引用的实体。这些词（例如，这个和那个）在语言学中被称为指示词，通常用于将听者的注意力集中在言语情境中的实体上。随着时间的推移，其中一些单词会不断演变，并可能发展出各种新功能，例如连接词和犹豫信号。尽管指示词在各种语言中具有普遍性，但指示词在如何变化以及为何以某些方式演变方面有所不同。尽管指示词长期以来一直是语言学的一个关键研究课题，但令人惊讶的是，我们对如何在自发的面对面对话中使用指示词和指示词衍生的语用标记知之甚少。这是因为语言分析中最常用的类型是书面话语和口头叙述，而不是口头话语。结果和转录将帮助应用语言学家和第二语言教育工作者开发更有效的材料来教授普通话，这是美国政府指定的关键语言。该项目数据库将加强语言相关研究和教育的基础设施，并将有助于学生的培训。 本论文项目认识到以前基于文本的分析中方法论的局限性，并从话语语用的角度研究了远端指示词“na”在普通话日常对话中的使用方式。除了作为远端指示词的规范用法外，na 还具有各种扩展和细致的话语功能。该项目旨在对 na 的不同用法进行识别和分类，特别关注其先前被忽视的非指涉话语语用功能。更具体地说，它将使用定量方法和定性分析来揭示 na 的顺序上下文、功能帐户和位置。主要目标是提供系统分析，解释说话者在实际日常对话中出现的所有 na 的出现和功能。第二个目标是更好地理解指示词的语法化和/或实用化中的鲁棒相似性和微妙的语言特定变化，特别是源自指示词的语用标记的非指示性使用。该论文项目将有助于通过新鲜数据和互动的角度更深入地理解常见的人类语言现象。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。