* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LINGUIST List logo Eastern Michigan University Wayne State University *
* People & Organizations * Jobs * Calls & Conferences * Publications * Language Resources * Text & Computer Tools * Teaching & Learning * Mailing Lists * Search *
* *
LINGUIST List 18.2549

Thu Aug 30 2007

Qs: Ability Modality in Mandarin and English

Editor for this issue: Dan Parker <danlinguistlist.org>

We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.

In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have taken the trouble to respond to the query.

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.
Directory
        1.    Zhiguo Xie, Ability Modality in Mandarin and English
Message 1: Ability Modality in Mandarin and English
Date: 26-Aug-2007
From: Zhiguo Xie <culinguistgmail.com>
Subject: Ability Modality in Mandarin and English
E-mail this message to a friend

Dear linguists,

I am trying to convince myself that ability modality in Mandarin has a
temporality presupposition while English does not. Towards this end, I am
looking for help from native speakers of Chinese and native speakers of
English.

In English, is it good if, out of blue, someone utters "John was able to
finish the assignment yesterday' or "John could finish the assignment
yesterday' (focusing on the ability reading). Does the sentence convey any
contrastive meaning, like in such contexts as 'John was able to finish the
assignment, but he cannot do so today.'?

In Mandarin Chinese, are sentences (1) and (2), which both contain
past-denoting zuotian 'yesterday', acceptable in their ability reading?

(1) Zhangsan zuotian neng zuo wan zuoye
Z yesterday can do finish homework
(2) Zhangsan zuotian zuo de wan zuoye
Z yesterday do DE finish homework

Some people that I consulted reported to me that (1) and (2) would be
improved if we add elements like hai 'still' before neng (for (1)) and zuo
(for (2)), respectively. That seems to suggest that (1) and (2) are
marginal as they stand alone as above. But I really don't want to jump to
such a conclusion before consulting more native speakers.

Thank you very much.

Best,
Zhiguo

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics

Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue



Please report any bad links or misclassified data

LINGUIST Homepage | Read LINGUIST | Contact us

NSF Logo

While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed
on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.