Sentence-final particle: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:02, 23 August 2018

Revision as of 10:16, 23 August 2018

Line 3:

'''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==

==Structure and uses==

{{Refimprove|date=April 2009}}

===MandarinChinese===

[[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 | last=Chao |first=Yuen Ren |title=A Grammar of Spoken Chinese |year=1968 |publisher=University of California Press |___location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-00219-9 | page=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[[Yuen Ren Chao]] has described sentence-final particles usuallyas do"phrase notsuffixes": carryjust meaningas themselvesa orword [[Denotationsuffix (semiotics)|denote]]is anythingin explicitconstruction with the word preceding it, theya maysentence-final beparticle derivedor fromphrase wordssuffix thatis do"in carryconstruction meaningwith whena theypreceding occurphrase inor othersentence, contextsthough andphonetically serveclosely differentattached functionsto the syllable immediately preceding it".<ref name="Li & Thompson 1Chao">{{cite book | lastsurname=LiChao |given=Yuen firstRen |author-link=Charles;Chao andYen Sandra ThompsonRen | title=Mandarin Chinese: A FunctionalGrammar Referenceof GrammarSpoken |Chinese |year=19811968 | publisher=University of California Press | ___location=Los AngelesBerkeley | isbn=978-0-520-0661000219-69 | page=238149}}</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>

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 1"/>

InAll [[Standardof Chinese]],the sentence-final particles are used to express variousof [[linguisticStandard modality|modalitiesChinese]]. All of them are unstressed and, unlike most syllables in the language, do not carry [[tone (linguistics)|tone]].<ref>{{cite bookname="Li & Thompson"/>

==Examples==

{{Refimprove|date=April 2009}}

===Mandarin===

In [[Standard Chinese]], sentence-final particles are used to express various [[linguistic modality|modalities]]. All of them are unstressed and, unlike most syllables in the language, do not carry [[tone (linguistics)|tone]].<ref>{{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>

* ''le'' (了): expressing the currently state

Line 31 ⟶ 20:

* ''a'' (啊) or ''ya'' (呀): softening a question. The combination ''le a'' may be contracted as ''la'' (啦).

* ''ma'' (嗎/吗): forming a [[tag question]]

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 1"/>

===Japanese===