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Title:
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A Pragmatic Analysis of Mandarin Interrogatives: Data from modern Taiwan drama
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Author:
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Scott McGinnis
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Email:
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click here to access email
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Homepage:
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http://www.nflc.org
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Degree Awarded:
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Ohio State University
, Department of East Asian Languages and Literature
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Degree Date:
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1990
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Linguistic Subfield(s):
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Pragmatics
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Subject Language(s):
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Chinese, Mandarin
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Director(s):
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James Tai
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Abstract:
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Mandarin Chinese has four grammatical devices by which one may pose a question. Two of those, namely MA-particle questions and A-not-A questions, have been a particular subject of pragmatic-oriented discussion. This dissertation provides a new framework for analyzing such interrogative forms in terms of discourse organization.
In reviewing the existing literature, the lack of consensus regarding the neutrality of context for MA-particle interrogatives is demonstrated. Additionally, a series of pragmatically-motivated observations is presented as an alternative description of A-not-A questions.
The heart of the study is an examination of several improvisational plays produced by the Performance Workshop in Taiwan. Analysis of the corpus of data is conducted in the tradition of conversational analysis. Each interrogative is categorized based upon a set of three contextual correlates in the speech of either the speaker or listener. Interrogatives which exhibited any number of the correlates are interpreted as cases of question-posing, primarily serving as an expression of one's doubt. In contrast, interrogatives showing none of the correlates are classified as cases of question-asking. Statistical results show that MA-particle questions and A-not-A interrogatives are almost equally distributed between question-posing and question-asking structures. Further statistical analysis verifies a lack of correlation between selected syntactic structures and question-posing discourse organization. A connection between gender and verb choice in A-not-A questions is exhibited.
For comparative and pedagogical purposes, the analytical model is applied to three Chinese language textbooks. Statistics reveal that even the advanced level text shows patterns of discourse organization significantly different from those seen in the dramatic data base.
The study suggests further intriguing research along sociolinguistic and dialectal lines. Methodologically, it serves to justify the need for and potential of a conversation analytical model that intergrates both speaker and listener. Most compelling and practical, however, is its presentation of the gap between textbooks and authentic materials, and the necessity to reassess just how natural is the language that is being presented to students in the Chinese language classroom.
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Page Updated: 29-Nov-2009
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