Particles In Cantonese Research Articles

Proximity, polarity and scalarity: A semantic study of approximative sentence-final particles in Cantonese

This paper studies the semantics of Cantonese approximative sentence-final particles mat1zai3 ‘MATZAI’ and gam3zai3 ‘GAMZAI’, which have their meaning predominantly determined by the polarity of the proposition. I argue that polarity sensitivity of mat1zai3 and gam3zai3 is due to their semantics as scalar operators, with their interpretations governed by two components. The proximal component requires the realization of the proposition come close to the proposition prejacent to mat1zai3 and gam3zai3 to be true. The polar-minimal component not only reverses the polarity of the prejacent proposition, but requires the proposition to mark a point in a minimal or small interval from the low-end or the high-end of the scale. Adapting a scalar model, the close relation of mat1zai3 and gam3zai3 with polarity can be accounted for by the two semantic properties encoded in polarity items in relation to the informative value. Approximatives require scalar ordering from top-end/high-end to bottom-end/low-end, or from bottom-end/low-end to top-end/high-end of the scale, in order to satisfy the requirement of giving high informative value. The scalar analysis is preliminarily extended to English approximatives to provide a unified analysis under a scalar model for approximatives in natural language.

Review of Chor (2018): Directional Particles in Cantonese: Form, Function, and Grammaticalization

Review of Chor (2018): Directional Particles in Cantonese: Form, Function, and Grammaticalization

The origin and development of the question particle me1 in Cantonese

This study discusses the origin and development of the question particle me1 in Cantonese. An examination of the materials written in Cantonese between 1828 and 1955 reveals two unexamined facts about me1. Firstly, besides marking a biased question, two centuries ago me1 was also used to mark unbiased questions, a usage that no long exists. Secondly, the pronunciation of me1 was rendered as mi1 in some texts. This study proposes that me1 was a fusion of the negative marker m4 and the particle ni1. The resulting form mi1 subsequently changed to me1 and from a high-falling to a high-level changed tone. Meanwhile, me1 has developed from a question marker to a discourse marker. Before the 1960s, statistics show that me1 was primarily a question marker and is now both a question marker and a discourse marker. Because of the frequent occurrence of a negative marker in me1-questions, they have become associated with negative presuppositions, a meaning that has remained, even in the absence of a negative marker. Phonological fusion is a major way of deriving particles in Cantonese and is closely related to word length, a characteristic which may explain the difference in richness of particles in Cantonese and Mandarin.

The Syntax and Semantics of Cantonese Particles in the Left Periphery

AbstractAdopting the cartographic approach, this paper proposes syntactic positions for all left-periphery particles above the tense phrase (TP) in Cantonese. These include both sentence-final particles and sentence-initial particles that can be used in isolation as interjections. Based on previous syntactic proposals for the left periphery, a modification of Rizzi’s (2001) split-complementizer phrase (Split-CP) structure is proposed. A Deictic Phrase (DeicP) is added above the finite phrase (FinP) for the Cantonese “tense” particleslaa3andlei4(ge3). Then, based on a number of proposals inspired by Speas and Tenny (2003), two functional phrases are added above the force phrase (ForceP) – a higher affect phrase (AffectP) for Cantonese sentence-initial particles and a lower discourse phrase (DiscourseP) for most of the sentence-final particles. The resulting structure is tentatively proposed to account for the word order of all left-periphery particles in Cantonese, bringing the description of their syntax closer in line with a number of proposals based on left-periphery particles in other languages. This proposal includes a three-way distinction of the functions and meanings of left-periphery particles: 1) particles that lie between ForceP and TP do not refer directly to the discourse context; 2) particles that head DiscoursePdorefer directly to the discourse; and 3) particles that head AffectP refer to the discourseandexpress human emotions.

Cartographic syntax of performative projections: evidence from Cantonese

It is argued in this paper that a sentence should consist of at least three layers, namely proposition, grounding, and response, which are formed by a number of functional categories, such as Event, Temp, Focus, Degree, and CoA. A cartographic analysis of the performative projections can be supported by the data of the sentence-final particles in Cantonese, focusing on the sentence-final particle ho and other members of the h-family, which may allow us to have a better understanding of the syntax of the speech act domain and should have implications for the cross-linguistic study of the performatives and the theory of the Universal Grammar.

Directional Particles in Cantonese: Form, Function and Grammaticalization by Winnie Chor

Directional Particles in Cantonese: Form, Function and Grammaticalization by Winnie Chor

Grammatical Morphology in Aphasia: Evidence from Cantonese Classifiers

Grammatical Morphology in Aphasia: Evidence from Cantonese Classifiers

Multiple Correspondence and Typological Convergence in Contact-Induced Grammaticalization

This paper examines the emergence of perfective aspect in Cantonese-English bilingual children from the perspective of contact-induced grammaticalization, focusing on the novel use of already. Although the adverbial already seems to serve a function similar to that of the Cantonese perfective marker zo2 in the bilingual children, other model constructions suggest that the function of already may combine those of several Cantonese particles such as the sentence-final particle laa3. The results suggest that in contact-induced grammaticalization, it is possible to develop a new category in the replica language based on multiple different but related categories in the model language. Adopting an evolutionary approach to language transmission (Mufwene, 2001), we discuss why grammaticalization in the Cantonese-English bilingual children does not seem to involve coevolution of form and meaning, why the grammaticalization phenomena in the bilingual children are only transient, and how the study of bilingual acquisition can contribute to contact linguistics.

Discourse particles in Colloquial Singapore English

ABSTRACTThe research looked into choices by speakers of Colloquial Singapore English with different ethnicities (Chinese, Indian and Malay) in the use of particles whose roots lie not in English. The 76 speakers under investigation used 1,427 such particles in 30 conversations. The general rate of particle usage by the members of each ethnicity was similar. The particleslahandah, whose linguistic origins are unknown and which account for almost 94 per cent of the total particle use, were both frequently used across ethnic groups. The Chinese speakers used these articles less than the other two ethnicities and were more inclined than the other two groups to use Cantonese particles, especiallylor. Two other Cantonese particles,horandleh, were used six and nine times respectively, and these rare instances were exclusively produced by Chinese speakers. Indian speakers did not distinguish between the number of particles in intra‐ and interethnic settings, while the other two groups did, especially the Malay speakers, for this group the difference was significant. Our research shows that while ethnic patterns seem absent in the use of the most frequent CSE particles, infrequent particles may nevertheless reveal such patterns. Future research should focus on infrequent CSE particles.

从语调到声调——以粤语句末语气助词“呀”、“喎”为例<br>From Intonation to Tone——The Case of Utterance-Final Particles “aa” and “wo” in Cantonese

本文提出粤语某些句末语气助词当承载不同边界调时，能产生一套只有调值差别的近音句末语气助词：甲、“呀H”、“呀L”、“呀R”；乙、“喎R”、“喎L”、“喎H”。这两组句末助词的声调有四种来源：“呀R”是由合成助词“呀嗄”简化而来；“喎R”极可能是从“话”虚化成据由助词后所带的字调；其它的是在两个提示话语行为的边界调作用下，通过调型字调化而形成的。其中，高调值(H)源于边界调【H】，其语用功能为邀请受话者进行积极话语活动；低调值(L)源于边界调【L】，其语用功能为说话者没有跟受话者进一步进行话语交流的期望。 This paper points out that some utterance-final particles in Cantonese can bear different boundary tones, which gives rise to a set of quasi-homophones that contrast merely in pitch, e.g. (a) “aaH”, “aaL”, “aaR” and (b) “woR”, “woL”, “woH”. These two sets of quasi-homophonous particles have four suprasegmen- tal sources: “aaR” is resulted from contraction of the compound “aa-haaR”; the evidential marker “woR” is likely to have been grammaticalized from waa33/waa23 “say”; the remainder emerged through localization of the boundary tones: [H] and [L]. The high tone of the particles originated from [H], which signals invitation of the interlocutor’s active participation in speech act, whereas the low tone originated from [L], whose pragmatic func- tion is to indicate that the speaker does not expect the interlocutor to further participate in speech exchange.

A Study of Evidential Particles in Cantonese: the case of wo3 & wo5

The study of evidentiality, which has become an indispensable part of linguistic studies, has had a rapid development in the past few decades. However, studies of evidentiality in Cantonese, one of the major dialects spoken by some 70 million people in Hong Kong, Macau and most of the Guangdong province of China, are relatively few. This paper will firstly introduce evidentiality and its derived concept, mirativity, and subjectivity. Then the features of the Cantonese evidential particles wo3 (mid-level tone), which indicates unexpectedness and noteworthiness, and wo5 (low rising tone), which expresses hearsay information, will be analyzed, and a discussion on how a speaker expresses his or her understanding of the objective world through language will be given.

Discourse particles: Where cognition and interaction intersect—The case of final particle ey in Shishan dialect (Hainan Island, P.R. China)

Based on spontaneous dyadic and multi-party conversation data, we examine final particle ey in Shishan, a dialect of Lingao (Tai-kadai language family) through the multiple lenses of: tense/aspect, stance marking, interpersonal interaction, and evidentiality. In order to explicate the semantic–pragmatic functioning of Shishan ey, 2 2 Particle ey occurs utterance-initially, utterance-medially, and utterance-finally, though instances of utterance-initial and utterance-medial ey are much less frequent. The cognitive-interactional functions of the particle differ according to placement. The current paper addresses ey only in utterance-final position. we provide brief comparisons with the aspectual/interactional functions of Mandarin le, the interactional functions of Mandarin final particles ou and a, and Cantonese final particle wo. We analyze the Mandarin and Cantonese particles from the points of view of the multivariate facets of speaker stance and compare them to Shishan ey. We note that in interactional discourse, the linguistic expression of evidentiality of Shishan ey is triggered by an external, interactionally-based signal. Specifically, when the particle emerges in collaboratively-built talk, it serves to signal the speaker's instantaneous discovery of a speaker–hearer epistemic mismatch and to simultaneously re-gauge the hearer's orientation toward evidence that emerges in the immediate context. By illuminating the semantic and pragmatic meanings of this form, we hope to advance the study of interactional particles as essential grammatical components of linguistic systems.

Promising Approaches for the Analysis of Sentence-final Particles in Cantonese: the Case of [aa3

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the meanings and moods of the most frequently used particle [aa3] in various types of modern Cantonese sentences. Promising and feasible approaches of ‘Minimal Pair’ and ‘Maximal Common Induction’ are introduced to depict the pattern of the use of Cantonese particles microscopically and macroscopically so as to establish a better grammatical description of the language. The possibilities that may occur when a sentence ends with a final particle are also discussed in this work.

Cantonese particles in Hong Kong students' English e-mails

With the popularisation of the Internet, the use of e-mails and computer-based chats (CBCs) has increased dramatically among university students. An interesting feature of such communication, however, is that a written medium is treated like speech (cf. Maynor, 1994). Conversations turn into notes where grammatical accuracy and conventional formalities take a backseat to instant communication. In the case of on-campus CBCs, informality and a certain disregard of the conventions of standard English are all the more manifest.It is commonly believed in Hong Kong that this general freedom to write ‘bad English’ has encouraged the habit of randomly incorporating Cantonese words into English e-mails. Yet an examination of students' e-mails and icq (‘I Seek You’) communications reveals that far from ‘polluting’ their English by substituting Cantonese words haphazardly for English ones, or by applying Cantonese structures to their English writing, students tend to incorporate certain kinds of Cantonese words systematically into their texts for specific identifiable purposes.