The Grammar of Demonstratives in Mandarin Conversational Discourse: A

Case Study

Hongyin Tao

Presented by CheWei Chang

1. Introduction

Proximal demonstrative

Zhe/zhei (這)

Zhe-li (這裡), zhe-xie (這些)

Distal demonstrative

Na/ nei (那/內)

Na-li (那裡), na-xie (那些)

Question: What factors determine the different uses

of the two forms in the communicative context?

Concerns of this paper:

Discoursal uses of demonstratives in natural Mandarin conversations

Not merely indicating the distance of the object to the speaker

Database

A 30 minutes conversation

Three Chinese students

About an incident

157 demonstratives in total

2. Traditional Treatment of Demonstratives

Demonstratives:

usually referred to as deixis /daiksis/

(Fillomore1975, Levinson 1983…)

Earlier studies of demonstratives:

Physical/ spatial aspects

Fillmore: the distance differentiation function of

demonstratives are essential and then other functions

(identification function…)

Contrasting theory:

Hank(1989, 1990, 1992):

Deixis (demonstratives) serve many functions

Spatial distance in many cases is irrelevant

In Chinese linguistic tradition:

Demonstratives: contrasting in spatial distance

Only speaker at the center

Zhe: things close to the speaker; Na: far from the speaker

BUT as in (1) and (2)

(1) Y:…後來我就問他了。

…我說,

..<Q我也不認識這老頭Q>

(2) (explain to other participants why the police officer asked him whether the old man had threatened him)

Y: 我跟那老頭坐在一起啊。

3. Discourse Approaches to Demonstratives

Two discourse approaches are discussed:

Kirsner (1979)

Hanks (1989, 1990, 1992)

Kirsner:

Challenges the conception of Demons. (zhe/na) as merely contrasting in spatial distance

Notions of high/ low deixis are more accurate

Demonstratives are INSTRUMENTAL:

Direct hearers’ attention

Not merely indicating the distance between referred ‘object’ and ‘speaker’

Discourse interactional motivations

VS.

Spatial distance

Hanks:

The indexical context of deixis is dynamic, not fixed

Degree of saliency:

Proximal: more salient/ more accessible/ concrete

Distal: less salient/ vague

Summary:

Deixis/demonstratives: intimately related to interaction

The choice of deitic forms:

Concrete spatial distance

Other (interaction…)

4. Theoretical Concepts

4.1 Usage Types of Demonstratives in Discourse (four kinds of uses)

Situational use.

Refere to an entity present in utterance situation (exophoric).

You sit here/ 他坐在那裏

Discourse/ Textual use.

Refere to a proposition/ event in the discourse

Tracking use.

Refers back to introduced specific referent

Anaphoric use

Recognitional use.

Referent are introduced with a demonstrative to show degrees of uncertainty

(3) Y: 他說…

<Q 我們是按照正常工作程…

T: 正常喔

Y: 這個程序來問Q>

4.2 Semantic Types of Reference (five semantic categories)

Temporal reference:

(4) Y: …我那天去拿信

Spatial reference:

(5) Y: …<Q你來這裡幹什麼Q>

Personal reference.

(6) Y: …我去那個運動中心打球阿

…我就穿這身衣服

T: 喔

Y: …穿這樣一條短褲

Ordinary reference.

Refer to human/ non-human entities

那老頭/ 這個程序

Hypothetical reference.

The entity being referred to is hypothetical and non-specific

(7) Y:… 我很少看到警察

T: XX

Y: 抓了一個外國人

在那要他的身分證

4.3 Discourse Modes

Interactive mode

Most interpersonal

(2)Y: 我跟那老頭坐在一起啊。

Story mode

Reported speech

(5)Y: …<Q你來這裡幹什麼Q>

Intermediate mode

Retelling events

As in (7)

5. Discourse Factors Influencing the Use of

Demonstratives

5.1 Distribution of Demonstratives in Conversational Discourse

Overall distribution of demonstratives in the data

Table 1

Head Modifier Total

這 42 48 90

那 30 37 67

Total 72 85 157

Functional distribution of demonstratives in the data

Table 2

Recognotional > tracking > textual/situational

Concrete spatial uses are the least frequent of the demonstratives

Situational

Textual Tracking Recognitional

這 12 19 22 37

那 10 3 30 24

Total 22 22 52 61

5.2. Discourse Mode

The change of discourse mode shift of indexical ground

ascontrast in (8) and (9)

Interactive mode (immediate speech)

(8) C: …他媽的頭—

從太—

太平洋那端偷渡到這來

這 refers to the immediate place when conversation took place

From interactive mode to story mode

(9) Y: …好 (interactive mode)

..<Q 內麼這個座位上的兩個人，

…你們現在就跟我們一起下車 Q> (story mode)

Neither 這個 nor 現在 refers to the current talk

Different marking of the same referent in (1) and (2)

(1) : story mode

Y:…後來我就問他了。

…我說,

..<Q我也不認識這老頭Q>

(2) : interactive mode

Y: 我跟那老頭坐在一起啊。

Cross Mode Constraint (CMC)

Only using distal demonstratives to refer to story characters in interactive mode

(2) Y: 我跟那老頭坐在一起啊。

(10) T:. ..那撿那個包的人在哪呢?

Y: …

(11) Y: 我後來，專門請教了他們一個讀法律的學生阿。

我說，<Q那，那個老頭怎麼辦Q>

他說，<Q就不知道最後給什麼處理了Q>

Exclusion of the distal demonstrative 那

Co-participants in the interactive mode

Co-appearance really matters

Spatial distance is not concerned

(12) 你這個人

(13) *你那個人

5.3. Textuality

Textual uses of demonstratives— anaphora

Table 3

Temporal immediacy in the textuality calls for the use of proximal demonstratives

Textual

Proximal 19(97%)

distal 3(3%)

Total 22 (100%)

5.4. Hypotheticality

Non-referential/ non-specific

Hypotheticality of 這 & 那

這: referential nominals

那: hypothetical nominals in irrealis clauses

(7) Y: 我很少看到警察，

抓了一個外國人，

在那要他的身分證。

5.5 Assumed Familiarity

Speaker’s assumption about the listener

Identifiability of the referents:

這: referent is non-identifiable/new to the hearer as in (16)

那: referent is identifiable to the hearer as in (15)

(15) C: …西區警署阿?

Y: 不是西區警署。

那個，中環那…就是，就是港都府下面

喔…不到港都府那裏

(16) Y:…我去了，

…結果呢，

…他說，

…在一個叫做證物室阿。

T: …<L專門存放的地方L>

Y: 喔，存放這些…證物的地方。

5.6. Social Distance

Speaker’s attitude influences the choice of demonstratives

那 indicates the speaker’s disfavoring attitude

(17)T: …其實美國也是這樣

他有時候那個警察，

故意刁難人，

也有。

這 does not necessarily mean approval of the speaker

(18) Y: …你對這個警察，

…反正個人有個人的看法了。

6. The Indexical Ground of Demonstratives: Beyond

Concrete Space

The indexical ground of demonstratives : Complex

Different levels of discourse modes

The indexical ground of demonstratives : Highly regular

The use of 這 is ruled out by Cross-Mode Constraint

The indexical ground of demonstratives : Merge from interaction

Identifiability of the referent to the hearer

7. Conclusion

Five factors help explain the uses of demonstratives

Discourse mode

textuality

hypoyheticality of reference

assumed familarity

social attitude

The study of discourse is crucial for uncovering the nature of grammar