Factuality lens

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danjie Su
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Talk Show ◽  
Passive Construction

Abstract Why do speakers choose the Mandarin Chinese unmarked passive construction (UP) in conversation when they have other grammatical alternatives with roughly the same semantics? From the perspective of subjectivity, this study identifies the Factuality lens, a lens through which a situation is presented as a “fact” or a “truth” regardless of reality. My analysis of a video corpus of spontaneous talk show conversations using the discourse adjacent alternation method reveals that speakers tend to choose UP over other constructions to present a transitive event through the Factuality lens by emphasizing the factuality of a fact or making a non-fact appear as a fact – either deceivingly or openly in a fictitious narrative or a joke. The findings reveal that grammatical constructions can linguistically recreate a situation different from reality. The conclusion that Factuality lens is a factor that could influence speakers’ grammatical choice casts light on pragmatic consequence of grammatical choice and subjectivity in language use.

LANGUAGE USE BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE HOST IN HITAM PUTIH TALK SHOW

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurmaliana Sari ◽  
Sumarsih Sumarsih ◽  
Busmin Gurning
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
The Other ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Talk Show ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Domestic Activities ◽  
Female Host ◽  
Negative Connotation ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative

This study discusses about language use occurred by male and female host in Hitam Putih talk show. The method of this research is descriptive qualitative. The subjects of this study are male and female host in Hitam Putih talk show. The data are the utterances produced by male and female host in Hitam Putih talk show. This research focuses on the show broadcasted on October 2016 by taking 4 videos randomly. The objective of this study is to describe kinds of the language use uttered by male and female host in Hitam Putih talk show. The findings showed that the kinds of language use consist of 6 parts. The dominant language use uttered by male host is expletive, because male’s utterances are frequently stated in a negative connotation. On the other hand, female host utterances are found in specialized vocabulary as the most dominant because female host has more interest in talking family affairs, such as the education of children, clothes, cooking, and fashion, etc. Women also tended to talk about one thing related to the home and domestic activities. However, the representation of language use uttered by male and female are deficit, dominance and different. Keywords: Language Use, Gender, Talk Show

L2 acquisition of the bei passive in Mandarin Chinese: A constructionist approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-198
Author(s):  
Chen Chen ◽  
Feng-hsi Liu
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Constructionist Approach ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Function

Abstract A major claim in the constructionist approach to language acquisition is that grammar is learned by pairings of form and function. In this study we test this claim by examining how L2 learners of Mandarin Chinese acquire the bei passive construction, a construction that is associated with the meaning of adversity. Our goal is to find out whether L2 learners make the association between the passive and adversity. Participants performed a sentence choice task under four conditions: an adversative context with an adversative verb, an adversative context with a neutral verb, a neutral context with a neutral verb and a positive context with a neutral verb. In each context participants were asked to select either the bei passive construction or its active counterpart. We found that high-level learners consistently chose the bei passive significantly more in adversative contexts than in non-adversative contexts regardless of the connotations of the verbs, while low-level learners made the distinction half of the time. In addition, while low-level learners did not yet associate adversity with the form of the construction, high-level learners did. We conclude that L2 learners do learn the bei passive construction as a form-meaning pair. The constructionist approach is supported.

Accusative case in passives

Linguistics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Goodall
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Standard View ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Chinese And English

Abstract The standard explanation for Ν Ρ movement in the passive construction has been that the N P must move into the nominative position because no accusative case is available. This paper examines the implications for this view of some double-object constructions in Mandarin Chinese and English that are ungrammatical as active clauses but improve significantly as passives. These facts are unexpected under the standard view of passives, but I suggest that they can be explained if we assume that the second object is not licensed for case in the active versions but is able to check accusative case in the passive version, thus arguing that accusative case is available in passive clauses.

scholarly journals What is an image schema? Looking for an answer in Latvian and Mandarin Chinese

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 142-158
Author(s):  
Marija Nikolajeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Concept Image ◽  
Image Schemas ◽  
Concept Location ◽  
Semantic Frames ◽  
Image Schema ◽  
Functional Units ◽  
The Relationship

Image schema is one of the key notions in the discussions of the semantics of spatial adpositions. The diversity of related topics and the abundance of literature on these conceptual primitives makes the concept image schema difficult to grasp. The aim of this article is to clarify this notion by explicating on some important aspects of the schematization and representation of spatial scenes using the CONTAINMENT schema as an example. The article also demonstrates that the cross-linguistic comparison of an image schema is an effective method employed to better understand the universal cognitive processes underlying language use. The article contains a comparison of the spatial functional units that express the CONTAINMENT schema in Latvian and Mandarin Chinese, a discussion of the blurriness of the boundary between the concepts containment and support and their relation to the concept location. The relationship between image schemas and semantic frames, the factors that influence schematization and the phenomenon of parallel usage of locative units are discussed too. Image schema transformations are characterized as the mechanism of extending the meanings of spatial phrases.

English-dominated Chinatown

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 273-289
Author(s):  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Ruanni Tupas ◽  
Aman Norhaida
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Quantitative Investigation ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Multilingual Societies ◽  
English Dominant

Abstract The current study reports a quantitative investigation of the linguistic landscape (LL) in Singapore’s Chinatown. The database of the study comprises a total of 831 instances of signs in the form of photographs that were collected in Chinatown. The study finds that English dominates the LL while Mandarin Chinese is ranked as the second frequently used language. The study also identifies significant differences in LL features between top-down and bottom-up signs. Specifically, these differences include what languages are used; monolingual, bilingual and multilingual compositions; code preference; and forms of Chinese scripts. The present study suggests that English now dominates the linguistic landscape of Chinatown. Even though many scholars have described the sociolinguistic situation in Singapore as being ‘English-knowing’, the data shows a shift towards being ‘English-dominant’, suggesting a gradual but sustained dilution of its multilingual ethos. The study also complicates our understanding of the dominance of English in multilingual societies such as Singapore, where a competing dominant language (Mandarin Chinese) may be seen to continue to exert considerable influence on the dynamics of English-dominant language use but, at the same time, whose main function is shifting towards the symbolic rather than communicative.

Malaysia’s linguistic landscape and language practices in Chinese private clinics

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 60-89
Author(s):  
Xiaomei Wang ◽  
Jin Zhuo Lee ◽  
Yi Chern Koh
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Medical Service ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Chinese Patients ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Patient Interaction ◽  
Klang Valley ◽  
Language Environment

Abstract This paper reports on the organization of Malaysia’s linguistic landscape and the implications of this situation for contacts between providers of medical service and patients. The main purpose of this study is to clarify the position of Chinese private clinics in Malaysian society and to better understand language use between Chinese medical personnel and Chinese patients. The fieldwork focused on clinics in the Klang Valley, Malaysia and was carried out between December 2016 and March 2017. The results reveal the complex linguistic situation in the medical domain reflecting the general hierarchical social structure in Malaysia. Chinese patients have different wishes as regards their preferred language environment in these clinics, but generally prefer to use Mandarin Chinese for interaction with doctors. Medical staff also tend to prefer the use of Mandarin Chinese but also understand the need for dialect based interactions to create a feeling of harmony and belonging. The data are used to clarify existing problems in doctor-patient interaction and contribute to the debate of communication discordance in the healthcare domain.

From language structures to language use

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Chen ◽  
Jiansheng Guo
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Written Narratives ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Contemporary Novels ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Linguistic Intuition ◽  
Linguistic Structures ◽  
Language Type

The place of Mandarin Chinese in Talmy’s two-way typology of motion expressions has been a focus of debate. Based primarily on linguistic intuition, some researchers consider Mandarin a Satellite-framed language, and some others consider it a Verb-framed language. This paper reports results from analyses of three different types of data from speakers’ actual language use in narrative discourse (one from elicited adults’ spoken narratives, one from written narratives in nine contemporary novels, and one from elicited children’s spoken narratives from ages 3 to 9) that suggest otherwise. Specifically, Mandarin shows a unique discourse style that matches neither Satellite-framed nor Verb-framed languages. The data provide evidence for categorizing Mandarin Chinese as the third language type: an equipollently-framed language. It is argued that examination of language use in discourse can provide insights for solving nutty problems that may not be resolved by merely looking at static linguistic structures.

Creating meso-contexts: The functions of metapragmatic expressions in argumentative TV talk shows

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Liu ◽  
Yongping Ran
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Talk Shows ◽  
Talk Show ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Tv Talk Show

AbstractMetapragmatic expressions (MPEs) show the speaker’s reflexive awareness of language use. Drawing on an argumentative TV talk show, this article explores the functions of MPEs in the host’s utterances from the sociocognitive approach (SCA). It argues that MPEs are employed to create “meso-contexts” so as to ensure the progression of the interactions as intended. The data analysis indicates that different types of MPEs activate prior contexts conventionally tied to them, and an interplay between prior contexts and emergent actual situations results in the construction of meso-contexts, which adjust the situational salience of relevant senses to direct the ongoing of interaction.

scholarly journals Why bother maintaining languages?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Teresa Ong
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Chinese Dialects

Language maintenance and language shift are vital subfields in sociolinguistics. In Malaysia, past studies have observed a shift from Chinese dialects to Mandarin Chinese in the language use of many young generation Chinese, which has led to the endangerment of some dialects. This situation draws attention to the role and survival of Chinese dialects in Malaysian society, and thereby creates a need to discuss the reasons for maintaining them. However, this is not merely a question of continuing to speak Chinese dialects. More deeply, we need to have conversations about who we are, where our ancestors originated from, and how we can make Chinese dialects more worthwhile for maintenance. This article seeks to elicit support for the language maintenance of small language groups across the globe.

The pragmatic use of ‘sort of’ in TV forums

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Chinese Text ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Linguistic Communication ◽  
Strong Bond ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pragmatic Markers

Abstract This study discusses the pragmatic functions of four Chinese equivalents of the English ‘sort of’ based on a Chinese TV forum corpus: youdian (有点), yidian (一点), youyidian (有一点), keyishuo (可以说). It finds that the Chinese ‘sort of’ tends to cluster with verbs or adjectives rather than nouns. ‘Sort of’ is infrequent in the formal setting of this study and serves three pragmatic functions: mitigation, approximation and evasion, with the first two functions being much more frequent than the last one. ‘Sort of’ performs more of an interpersonal than an informational function. This study highlights the elasticity of ‘sort of’ in Mandarin Chinese in the form of fluidity, stretchability and strategy, contributing a fresh account of pragmatic markers. This study implies that elastic language use is a natural part of linguistic competence (particularly pragmatic competence) and forms a strong bond with effective linguistic communication.

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