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Le , guo and zhe in Mandarin Chinese: a relevance-theoretic account

Ljungqvist, Marita LU (2007) In Journal of East Asian Linguistics 16(3). p.193-235
Abstract
In this paper, I propose a relevance-theoretic account of the particles le, guo and zhe in Mandarin Chinese. Though conventionally regarded as aspect markers, on closer inspection they seem to contribute to a range of interpretations that cannot be subsumed under a semantic category or a specific temporal representation. The explanatory model presented in this paper builds upon relevancetheoretic ideas on encoded procedural meaning and Reichenbach’s (1947, Elements of symbolic logic. London: Macmillan) temporal schemas for the tenses and the aspects. I propose a procedure—a set of interpretational instructions (as described in, among others, Wilson and Sperber (1993b, Lingua, 90, 1–25), Blakemore (1987, Semantic constraints on relevance.... (More)
In this paper, I propose a relevance-theoretic account of the particles le, guo and zhe in Mandarin Chinese. Though conventionally regarded as aspect markers, on closer inspection they seem to contribute to a range of interpretations that cannot be subsumed under a semantic category or a specific temporal representation. The explanatory model presented in this paper builds upon relevancetheoretic ideas on encoded procedural meaning and Reichenbach’s (1947, Elements of symbolic logic. London: Macmillan) temporal schemas for the tenses and the aspects. I propose a procedure—a set of interpretational instructions (as described in, among others, Wilson and Sperber (1993b, Lingua, 90, 1–25), Blakemore (1987, Semantic constraints on relevance. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000, Journal of Linguistics, 36(3), 463–486) and Carston (2002, Thought and utterances: The pragmatics of explicit communication. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.))—and a concept activated by the procedure for each of the particles. I show that these particles can contribute to a range of explicatures and implicatures and that their exact contribution to an utterance is highly context dependent. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Particles, Pragmatics, Mood, Aspect, Tense, Relevance theory, Procedural meaning
in
Journal of East Asian Linguistics
volume
16
issue
3
pages
193 - 235
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000248865700003
  • scopus:34547680201
ISSN
0925-8558
DOI
10.1007/s10831-007-9012-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
51f277b5-0aaf-4ec9-98f3-e84685d82767 (old id 621585)
alternative location
http://www.springerlink.com/content/e70878752w34l11h/
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 17:11:15
date last changed
2023-09-05 08:47:11
@article{51f277b5-0aaf-4ec9-98f3-e84685d82767,
  abstract     = {{In this paper, I propose a relevance-theoretic account of the particles le, guo and zhe in Mandarin Chinese. Though conventionally regarded as aspect markers, on closer inspection they seem to contribute to a range of interpretations that cannot be subsumed under a semantic category or a specific temporal representation. The explanatory model presented in this paper builds upon relevancetheoretic ideas on encoded procedural meaning and Reichenbach’s (1947, Elements of symbolic logic. London: Macmillan) temporal schemas for the tenses and the aspects. I propose a procedure—a set of interpretational instructions (as described in, among others, Wilson and Sperber (1993b, Lingua, 90, 1–25), Blakemore (1987, Semantic constraints on relevance. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000, Journal of Linguistics, 36(3), 463–486) and Carston (2002, Thought and utterances: The pragmatics of explicit communication. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.))—and a concept activated by the procedure for each of the particles. I show that these particles can contribute to a range of explicatures and implicatures and that their exact contribution to an utterance is highly context dependent.}},
  author       = {{Ljungqvist, Marita}},
  issn         = {{0925-8558}},
  keywords     = {{Particles; Pragmatics; Mood; Aspect; Tense; Relevance theory; Procedural meaning}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{193--235}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of East Asian Linguistics}},
  title        = {{Le , guo and zhe in Mandarin Chinese: a relevance-theoretic account}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10831-007-9012-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10831-007-9012-6}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}