Cover not available
Part of
The Social Dynamics of Pronominal Systems: A comparative approach
Edited by Paul Bouissac
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 304] 2019
► pp. 205–218

Chapter 8
The Chinese pronominal system and identity construction via self-reference

| Dalian University of Foreign Languages, China
| Northeast Normal University, China
In the Chinese pronominal system, the first-person singular pronoun wǒ is the unmarked or grammatical form of the speaker’s reference to himself/herself, which is deictic in nature. In daily conversation, however, other deictic expressions such as plural first-person and second-person pronouns, and even non-deictic proper names and descriptive expressions, can be employed to convey self-referential meanings. By analyzing the data collected from an authoritative Chinese corpus, we claim that self-reference is not merely the marking of the speaker’s participant role but a process of identity foregrounding or ad hoc identity construction exploited by the speaker in communication. This identity construction via self-reference reflects the dynamics and complexity of self-reference in verbal interaction.
Keywords: Chinese pronominal system, self-reference, identity foregrounding, ad hoc identity construction, corpus
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.The Chinese pronominal system
  • 2.Self-reference and identity construction
    • 2.1Identity foregrounding
    • 2.2ad hoc identity construction
  • 3.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 23 July 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.304.08xue
References (23)
References
Bhat, Darbhe N. S. 2004. Pronouns. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Brewer, Marilynn B. and Wendi Gardner. 1996. “Who is this ‘we’? Levels of collective identity and self representations.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71 (1): 83–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, Xinren. 2013. “语用身份：动态选择与话语建构 [Pragmatic identity: Dynamic choice and discursive construction].” Foreign Languages Research (4): 27–32.Google Scholar
. 2014. “语用学视角下的身份研究 –  – 关键问题与主要路径 [Current research on identity from the pragmatic perspective: Key issues and main approaches].” Modern Foreign Languages (5): 702–710.Google Scholar
Guo, Shenglin. 2007. “‘NP+ 我’与‘我+NP’的语用考察 [A pragmatic study of ‘NP+wǒ’ and ‘wǒ+NP’].” Journal of Nanjing Normal University (Social Science) (4): 149–152.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. 1994. An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2nd edn). London: Armold.Google Scholar
Huang, Chu-ren, and Dingxu Shi. 2016. “Preliminaries.” In A Reference Grammar of Chinese, ed. by Chu-ren Huang, and Dingxu Shi, 1–13. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lin, Hua. 2001. A Grammar of Mandarin Chinese. Muenchen: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
Liu, Fengguang, and Bing Xue. 2018. “Representing the cognitive constural of Chinese first-person reference in discourse.” Language Sciences 67: 1–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lü, Shuxiang. 1980. “现代汉语八百词 [800 words in modern Chinese].” Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Onishi, Toshiyuki. 1994. “亲属称谓词的自称用法刍议 [Remarks on the usage of kinship terms referring to oneself].” Chinese Teaching in the World (4): 29–35.Google Scholar
Scollon, Ron, and Suzanne W. Scollon. 1995. Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Simon, Bernd. 2004. Identity in Modern Society: A Social Psychological Perspective. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2007. “Theories of identities and analysis of face.” Journal of Pragmatics 39 (4): 639–656. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stryker, Sheldon. 1987. “Identity Theory: Developments and Extensions.” In Self and Identity: Psycho logical Perspectives, ed. by Krysia Yardley and Terry Honess, 89–103. Oxford, England: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Tajfel, Henri, and John C. Turner. 1985. “The Social Identity Theory of Group Behaviour.” In Psychology of Intergroup Relations, Vol 2., ed. by Stephen Worchel and William G. Austin, 7–24. Illinois: Nelson-Hall.Google Scholar
Turner, John C., Michael A. Hogg, Penelope J. Oakes, Stephen D. Reicher, and Margaret S. Wetherell (eds). 1987. Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Wang, Li. 2005. “汉语语法史 [The History of Chinese Grammar].” Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Xue, Bing. 2018. “语法与语用互动关系研究：以汉语时态、语态、语气为证 [A Study of Interactions of Grammar and Pragmatics with Special Reference to the Tense/Aspect, Voice and Mood in Chinese].” PhD diss., Northeast Normal University.Google Scholar
Xun, Endong, Gaoqi Rao, Xiaoyue Xiao and Jiaojiao Zang. 2016. “大 数 据 背 景 下 BCC 语料库的研制 [The construction of BCC corpus in the age of big data].” Corpus Linguistics (1): 94–118.Google Scholar
Yuan, Zhoumin. 2012. “自称语的语用身份建构：作为语用行为的顺应 [Pragmatic identity construction of self address forms: Adaptation as a pragmatic act].” Foreign Language Education (5): 32–40.Google Scholar
Zhang, Shaojie. 2010. “语法和语用：基于语言使用的互动视角 [An account of grammar and pragmatics from the interactive perspective of language use].” Foreign Language Research (5): 74–79.Google Scholar
. 2017. “话语识解的认知机制：语法-语用互动视角 [The cognitive mechanism for utterance constural: The perspective of grammar-pragmatics interaction].” Foreign Language Teaching and Research (5): 663–674.Google Scholar