Turn-initial na in Mandarin Chinese conversation

Abstract

Demonstratives play an important role in communication. Traditional analyses of demonstratives focus primarily on their morphology, semantics, and syntax. From a discourse pragmatics perspective, studies demonstrate that demonstratives can develop beyond their pointing and tracking uses to convey different shades of the speaker's subjective and intersubjective stance. Adopting the empirical framework of interactional linguistics, this paper investigates how na, which literally means ‘that’, is used in turn-initial position in everyday Mandarin Chinese interaction, focusing in particular on the versatile non-referential usages. An analysis of a total of 13 h recorded data shows that in turn-initial position, the referent-tracking uses account for less than one-third of the total instances. The predominant (71%) non-referential na on the other hand is routinely employed by speakers to: (i) launch a question inquiring into the state of affairs evoked by the prior turn(s), but with a contrast or shift in focus; (ii) register a contrastive stance; and (iii) project a question or a disaffiliative turn. The results also suggest that these interactional functions of the non-referential usages are linked to the distal demonstrative's deictic meanings in the sense that the na-prefaced turn indexes that the current turn is built from a prior; nevertheless, there is a contrast or shift in focus or stance.