LA PARTICULE WŌ ET WŎ EN CANTONAIS

Abstract

This paper attempts to establish a general methodology for interpreting Chinese final particles. This analysis divides the intrinsic value of final particles into denotative and discursive. This methodology is applied to the Cantonese wō and wŏ to show that: 1°) wō and wŏ are two variants of the same unit; 2°) the particle wó-wŏ refers to an act of enunciation; 3°) if it is the act of enunciation of the speaker's or the listener's utterance, the variant is wŏ; 4°) if it is the act of enunciation of another utterance, the variant is wŏ. Other examples, taken from Cantonese (t'im) and Taiwanese (kong), supply further evidence for this analysis.