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{{Short description|Words that qualify sentences}}
'''Sentence-final particles''', including [[modal particle]]s
▲'''Sentence-final particles''', including [[modal particle]]s,<ref name="Lin1">{{cite book | last=Lin | first=Huey Hannah | title=Contextualizing Linguistic Politeness in Chinese | url=http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/send-pdf.cgi/Lin%20Huey%20Hannah.pdf?acc_num=osu1109961198 | year=2005 | publisher=The Ohio State University}}</ref> interactional particles,<ref name=Morita>{{cite book | last=Morita | first=Emi | title=Negotiation of Contingent Talk:The Japanese interactional particles ''ne'' and ''sa''. | year=2005 | publisher=John Benjamins}}</ref> etc., are minimal [[lexeme]]s (words) that occur at the end of a sentence and that do not carry [[referential]] meaning, but may relate to [[linguistic modality]], [[Register (sociolinguistics)|register]] or other [[Pragmatics|pragmatic]] effects. Sentence-final particles are common in [[Chinese language|Chinese]], including particles such as [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin]] ''le'' 了, ''ne'' 呢, ''ba'' 吧, ''ou'' 哦, ''a'' 啊, ''la'' 啦, ''ya'' 呀, and ''ma'' 嗎/吗, and [[Cantonese]] ''lo'' 囉 and ''ge'' 嘅. These particles act as [[Grammatical modifier|qualifiers]] of the clause or sentence they end. Sentence-final particles are also present in [[Japanese language|Japanese]]<ref name=Fox>{{citation | last=Fox |first=Barbara | year=2007 | title=Principles shaping grammatical practices: an exploration. | publisher=Discourse Studies 9 | page=303}}</ref> and many East Asian languages, such as [[Thai language|Thai]], and especially in languages that have undergone heavy [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] influence, such as the [[Monguor|Monguor languages]].
==Examples==
{{
===Chinese===
[[Yuen Ren Chao]] has described sentence-final particles as "phrase suffixes": just as a word suffix is in construction with the word preceding it, a sentence-final particle or phrase suffix is "in construction with a preceding phrase or sentence, though phonetically closely attached to the syllable immediately preceding it".<ref name="Chao">{{cite book | surname=Chao |given=Yuen Ren |author-link=Chao Yen Ren |title=A Grammar of Spoken Chinese | url=https://archive.org/details/grammarofspokenc0000chao | url-access=registration |year=1968 |publisher=University of California Press |___location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-00219-9 | page=[https://archive.org/details/grammarofspokenc0000chao/page/149 149]}}</ref> According to Chao, the sentence-final particle is phonetically close to the last word before it, but syntactically it is equidistant from every word in the whole [[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]].
While sentence-final particles usually do not carry meaning themselves or [[Denotation (semiotics)|denote]] anything explicit, they may be derived from words that do carry meaning when they occur in other contexts and serve different functions.<ref name="Li & Thompson">{{cite book |given1=Charles N. |surname1=Li |given2=Sandra A. |surname2=Thompson |author-link=Sandra Thompson (linguist) |title=Mandarin Chinese: A functional reference grammar |___location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-520-06610-6 |pages=238–318 }}</ref>
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All of the sentence-final particles of [[Standard Chinese]] are unstressed and, unlike most syllables in the language, do not carry [[tone (linguistics)|tone]].<ref name="Li & Thompson"/>
* ''le'' (了): Expressing a completed action (could be in the past, present, or future, depending on time markers), or a change in state.
* ''ba'' (吧): Soliciting approval, softening an imperative or giving an expression, could also express mocking, sarcasm, or passive aggressiveness depending on tone and context.
* ''ou'' (哦): Adds friendliness or intimacy, used frequently after warnings.
*''ma'' (嘛): Expresses that the speaker believes something is obvious or simple, sometimes signifying frustration or impatience. Can also be used to intensify a command or suggestion.
*
*''ne'' (呢): Question particle that elicits elaboration on a topic previously discussed. Can also be used to soften a question.
* ''ma'' (嗎/吗): Forms a [[tag question]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-18|title=Chinese Final Particles: Signals for Tone of Voice|url=https://www.chineseclass101.com/blog/2021/01/18/chinese-final-particles/|access-date=2021-07-21|website=ChineseClass101.com Blog|language=en}}</ref>
A major use of sentence-final particles in Mandarin Chinese specifically is thought to be as a signal of the speaker's attitude, the intended [[Illocutionary act|force]] of the statement to which the particle is attached, and "how the utterance is to be taken by the hearer."<ref name="Lin1"/> For example, the addition of a particle may soften the tone of a question that might sound presumptuous or inappropriate without the particle. As such, sentence-final particles in this sense often perform an interpersonal function, rather than a grammatical one. Nevertheless, there are cases in which sentence-final particles do perform grammatical functions, such as Mandarin ''ma'' 嗎/吗, the "question particle," which changes the grammatical mood of a sentence to [[Interrogative mood|interrogative]]. Likewise, even though sentence-final particles can usually be omitted from a sentence without making the sentence ungrammatical or changing its meaning,<ref name="Lin1"/> some particles do contain information critical to the interpretation of an utterance's meaning, such as Mandarin ''le'' 了.<ref name="Li & Thompson"/>
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* "man" in "Don't do it, man."
* "right" in "The blue one, right?"
* "no" in "You want to go, no?"
* "don't you" in "You want to, don't you?"
* "are they" in "They're not hurt, are they?"
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* "isn't it" in "The plane is here, isn't it?"
All but the first are tag questions. Notice how when the main sentence is affirmative, the tag question is negative, and vice versa.<ref>http://spanish.about.com/od/sentencestructure/g/question_tag_gl.htm Page is about Spanish, but mentions tag questions in English</ref>
===Portuguese===
[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] uses several sentence-final particles. For example:
* "né": mainly used to seek confirmation or agreement. It may also be used to denote sarcasm or to express that a statement is obvious.
* "sim": mainly used to emphasize a statement. It's often translated as "do" as in: "eu sei, sim." = "I do know."
* "lá": used with some verbs to emphasize a negation as in "sei lá." = "I don't know."
* "já": has many different uses, one of them is to express surprise.
* "ó": rarely used in writing, but common in speech. Used to draw the listener's attention to something.
* "aí": has many different uses, one of them is to soften a request or to make a sentence sound more colloquial.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/6945899|title=Aí como partícula modal do português|journal=In: Mota, Jacyra (Ed.): Atas do 1O Congresso Internacional da Associação Brasileira de Lingüística: Vol. 2: Comunicações, Disquete 06: Lexicologia e Semântica, Semantic, File: Comunic03. Salvador: Instituto de Letras da Universidade Federal da Bahia|date=January 1997|last1=Johnen|first1=Thomas}}</ref>
===Spanish===
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* "no" (''no'') in "Le toca pasar la aspiradora, ¿no?" (''It's your (formal) turn to vacuum, no?'')
* "no es verdad" (''isn't that right'') in "Eres de Perú, ¿no es verdad?" (''You're (informal) from Peru, isn't that right?'')
Note that in Spanish, the question marks are placed around the tag question, and not around the entire sentence (although English only uses the single final question mark, it is implied that the entire sentence, and not just the tag, is the question).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://spanish.about.com/od/sentencestructure/g/question_tag_gl.htm|title = That's a Tag Question, Isn't It?}}</ref>
== References ==
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* [https://depts.washington.edu/icstll39/abstracts/icstll39_dai_zhaoming_paper_eng.doc The Typological Value of the Chinese Modality Particles] (.doc)
[[Category:Generative syntax]]
[[Category:Syntax]]
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