Relevance and the Discourse Functions of Mandarin Utterance‐Final Modality Particles1

Abstract

Some Mandarin utterance-final particles (UFP hereafter), such as a/ya (), ba (), ne () and me (), are generally treated as ‘modality’ particles in order to be distinguished from such other UFPs as le (), ma (), and de () that have more substantial semantic content and/or syntactic functions. It is true that the former group express modality. For example, the four above, respectively, indicate ‘personal concern’, ‘speaker's uncertainty’, ‘intensive inquiry’ and ‘obviousness’ (cf. 1982; Chappell 1991; Chu 1998; etc.) Yet, they also serve important discourse functions in the sense that they enhance relevance of the host utterance to its context (cf. Chu and Li 2004; Chu 2002, 2006). On the basis of past research findings, this article presents the discourse functions of a/ya (), ba (), and ne () from the perspectives of relevance theory and discourse markers. (1) a/ya (). In addition to its modality of ‘speaker's personal concern’ over the current situation or dialogue, the UFP also possesses the function of highlighting the signal that ‘this utterance is specifically for the hearer or the speaker himself/herself.’ (2) ba (). In addition to its modality of ‘speaker's uncertainty’, the UFP may also indicate that ‘the utterance is being made in view of what has occurred and/or been said previously.’ (3) ne (). The UFP possesses two separate but correlated core properties: ‘Look back for a contrast’ and ‘Demand to continue’. From these two properties, all the numerous otherwise unrelated meanings/uses/interpretations that have hitherto been proposed for it can be directly or indirectly derived.