Tag Questions in Mandarin Chinese

• Main Authors: Li, Cai-Lun, 李采倫
• Other Authors: Her, One-Soon
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1998
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/78108123160557156578

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 語言學研究所 === 86 === 　　Tag questions have never been a hot issue among linguists studying questions in Mandarin Chinese. According to previous analyses, since tag questions are merely instances of A-not-A or yes-no questions with sentential subjects or topics, there is no need to recognize a separate category for Mandarin tag questions. In this thesis, it is shown that the underlying form and pragmatic functions of Mandarin tag questions are not so simple and should not be ignored in that way. 　　Based on our syntactic analysis, the underlying structure of Mandarin tag questions is divided into two subparts, and each performs various syntactic behavior. One is the structure of simple A-not-A or yes-no questions with sentential subjects or topics and the other is the construction of coordination. The former can serve as the subject or direct object of a verb while the latter cannot. 　　To interpret the complicated relationship between form and function of the Mandarin tag question, a pragmatic analysis is moreover proposed. Based on various illocutionary intents and speaer's psychological states, tag questions are divided into two major kinds to perform different illocutionary acts:'Question'and'Request'(including request for confirmation and for action). After relating our syntactic approach to pragmatic analysis, it is manifest that the interaction between underlying form and pragmatic functions results in the surface structure of Mandarin tag questions.