Readers 读者
Integrating textual and prosodic features in the interpretation of Chinese utterance-final-particles: A case of a and ne
汉语句末助词 "啊" 和 "呢" 的语篇及韵律特征
Bin Li 李彬
Abstract 摘要
This research focuses on the prosodic features of utterances where two Chinese utterance-final particles (UFPs) a and ne may occur. The study investigated these discourse markers through an approach that integrated phonetic analysis into characteristics and distributions of these UFPs. Acoustic properties and prosodic environments were examined in addition to discourse contexts of these UFPs. Prosodic correlates, such as pitch and duration were measured to investigate the relationship between prosodic features and discourse functions. This study also assessed the effectiveness of prosodic features in speech perception. Our results suggested that changes of prosodic characteristics triggered by UFPs in different contexts may be interpreted as contexts’ adaptation to the presence or omission of a UFP; also that listeners relied on enhanced prosodic features to perceive moods carried by UFPs. We concluded that A and NE carry different pragmatic and discourse functions, which can also be realized by prosodic correlates when they are not present in discourse.
Subject Keywords 关键词
Utterance-final particles---a, ne 句末助词—"啊", "呢" Prosody 韵律表征 Discourse analysis 语篇分析 Putonghua 普通话 Speech perception 话语感知