Dramatized Discourse
The Mandarin Chinese ba-construction
Author
Language is a symbolic system of meanings evoked by linguistic forms. The choice of forms in communication is non-arbitrary. Rather, speakers pick those forms whose meanings best convey their discourse intention. The meaning of the Mandarin ba-construction, argues Jing-Schmidt, is discourse dramaticity, a concept that includes high conceptual salience and subjectivity. The ba-construction and its "syntactic variations" are never interchangeable because contrast in their meanings determines difference in their functions. Quantitative analyses based on authentic data validate the postulation of discourse dramaticity. By taking discourse pragmatics seriously, the dramaticity hypothesis enables a unitary explanation that transcends sentence grammar.
The diachronic treatment reveals the syntactic change of the ba-construction as an adaptive process of pragmatization, which raises the issue of linguistic evolution as a result of socio-cultural development.
This book will be of particular value to readers interested in the interaction between grammar and pragmatics and to teachers confronting the controversy of the ba-construction in foreign language pedagogy.
[Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics, 56] 2005. xxii, 337 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Preface | pp. xi–xii
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Acknowledgements | pp. xiii–xv
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List of Figures and Tables | pp. xvii–xviii
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Notational Conventions | p. xix
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Abbreviations | pp. xxi–xxii
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1. Introduction | pp. 1–11
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2. Database | pp. 13–15
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3. The syntax of the ba -construction: Overview | pp. 17–66
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4. Previous approaches | pp. 67–112
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5. The hypothesis of discourse dramaticity | pp. 113–124
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6. Cognitive salience as discourse dramaticity | pp. 125–210
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7. Subjectivity and emotionality as discourse dramaticity | pp. 211–240
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8. An interim conclusion | pp. 241–244
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9 The pragmatization of the ba -construction: An adaptive change | pp. 245–295
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10. Final remarks | pp. 297–300
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Notes | pp. 301–307
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Text material | p. 327
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Author index | pp. 329–331
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Subject index | pp. 333–337
Cited by
Cited by 13 other publications
Ai, Haiyang
Du, Hang
HOU, XIAOMING
Kinginger, Celeste, Sheng-Hsun Lee, Qian Wu & Dali Tan
Lang, Jun
Li, Yen-Hui Audrey
Lin, Jingxia & Yao Yao
Lin, Lin
Liu, Xiaoyu, Shi, Heidi H. & Zhuo, Jing-Schmidt
Peng, Xinjia
Su, Danjie
Yu, Shuo
Zhang, Shenglan
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Subjects & Metadata
Linguistics
BIC Subject: CF – Linguistics
BISAC Subject: LAN009000 – LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General