Chapter 2. Literature Review
2.4 Research on the acquisition of ranhou
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ranhou in Mandarin Chinese using a corpus-based study. As to the functions of
ranhou, five different functions proposed by Su (1998) were found in the data except
for the condition or concession function. In addition, two other functions were pointed out, both of which were not mentioned in previous studies. One is the resumptive opener function, and the other is the additive function. When ranhou is used as a resumptive opener, it resumes an old, digressed topic rather than serves as the connective use. Ranhou here functions as a strategic device so that the speaker can trace back old topics; in other words, ranhou functions as a discourse marker to organize discontinuous discourse units. The other function of ranhou newly discovered is the additive function. The additive function of ranhou does not express a temporal relationship, but is more like adding new information to the old one. From another viewpoint, it links a series of related events or actions together. The findings showed that the additive function of ranhou was the most frequent function, followed by temporal function and verbal filler function of ranhou.
2.4 Research on the acquisition of ranhou
Little research has been done on children’s acquisition of ranhou. Yeh (2011) investigated the use of ranhou in Mandarin-speaking children in story-telling narratives. The subjects were 5-year-old and 9-year-old children. Eight different
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functions of ranhou were coded based on the classification of Su (1998) and Wang and Huang (2006). The results showed that the frequency of ranhou in narratives decreased with age. Besides, the results suggested that children at age five had the abilities to use the temporal and additive functions of ranhou in their narrative.
Besides the conventional temporal use of ranhou, most of the five-year-old children also used ranhou to add new information. Except for the temporal and additive uses, nine-year-old children were able to use ranhou to mark consequence. Moreover, it was pointed out that the detail of a nine-year-old children’s story was also presented by their consecutive manipulation of the additive function of ranhou. In children’s narratives, the most salient use of ranhou was as predicted, the temporal function to connect clauses or events. Other meanings, such as speech planning, appeared relatively less. The temporal function of ranhou decreased with age while the additive and consequential functions increased with age. The findings implied that although children could not manipulate all functions of ranhou, they started to understand the multifunction of ranhou as a connective and a discourse marker at age five. Moreover, it also indicated a developmental difference in children’s use of the multifunction of ranhou.
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Chapter 3
Methodology
3.1 Subjects and data
The data in this study were adopted from the database of Language Acquisition Lab in National Chengchi University1. The subjects in this study were 8 children aged from 2;7 to 5;4 who lived in Taipei. All subjects were native speakers of Mandarin Chinese. The major language used for communication at home for children was also Mandarin Chinese. Among the eight subjects, five of them were boys and three were girls. According to Hsu (2003), Mandarin-speaking children started to use ranhou at age 2 to 3, and children at age 5 to 6 were able to use connectives as adults do. Thus, children aged from 2;7 to 5;4 were chosen. Subjects were further divided into the younger group and the older group for comparison: (1) Group 1: 2;7~3;2 (mean age:
2;11); (2) Group 2: 4;0~5;4 (mean age: 4;10). Table 1 presents the subject information in Group 1 and Group 2.
1 The lab is directed by Professor Chiung-chih Huang. I am deeply grateful to her contribution.
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Table 1
Subject Information in Group 1 and Group 2
Subjects Gender Age
Group 1 SEN M 2;7
TIN F 2;10
YIN F 3;1
BUO M 3;2
Mean 2;11
Group 2 XUN M 4;0
QIN M 4;11
LEE F 5;2
YOU M 5;4
Mean 4;10
Mother-child conversations were videotaped at the children’s homes. Mothers were told to do whatever activities they liked, only to make sure that they have spontaneous speech in mother-child conversations. The common activities for these mother-child dyads were playing toys, reading books, chatting, role-playing, eating food, and doing housework. The total length of time videotaped for each subject was about 2 hours. Thus, the data in this study included 8 children with a total time of approximately 16 hours. The data collected were transcribed following the CHAT (Codes for the Human Analysis Transcriptions) conventions.
In order to ensure the reliability for the different functions of ranhou, one fourth of the data of ranhou were randomly chosen and coded by another person. Cohen’s Kappa was utilized to test the inter-rater reliability. The reliability for the coding of
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ranhou was 0.81.
3.2 Analytical framework
According to previous studies, ranhou could function as a connective or a discourse marker in spoken Mandarin Chinese (Su, 1998; Wang, 1996; Wang &
Huang, 2006). Based on Su (1998) and Wang and Huang’s (2006) research, their classification of the use of ranhou was slightly modified as the main analytical framework of this study. First, Su (1998) indicated that the connective use of ranhou includes temporal, consequence, and lists function. The lists function proposed by Su was not adopted in that this use could be included in the additive function. The discourse marker use of ranhou includes the functions of conditional and concessional, verbal filler, and topic succession. Wang and Huang (2006) later proposed two functions of ranhou, which were not mentioned by Su. One is the additive function, which belongs to the connective use. The other is the function of resumptive opener, which belongs to the use of discourse marker. In summary, temporal, additive, consequence (named causal), verbal filler, topic succession, and resumptive opener functions were adopted in the study. Based on the Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) classification of connectives, the contrast function of ranhou as a connective use was added. Therefore, the total seven functions of ranhou in this study are classified into
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two major categories, as the connective use or as the discourse marker use2. There are four functions in the connective use of ranhou and three functions in the discourse marker use of ranhou, as shown in Figure 1.
Connective Temporal Additive Causal Ranhou Contrast
Discourse marker Verbal filler Topic succession Resumptive opener
Figure 1. The Framework of the Classification of Ranhou in This Study
3.2.1 Ranhou as the connective
(1) Temporal:
When ranhou serves as the temporal function, the notion of reference time is crucial to the discussion of the temporal function of ranhou. The starting point of one event precedes the starting point of another event. So the two sentences are highly
2 Although in some cases, the token of ranhou may seem to carry more than one function. However, in this study, only the primary function was chosen and coded. Thus, each token was coded as one function only.
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connected by time sequence. Example 1 shows children’s temporal function of ranhou.
In Example 1, YIN said “you wash this tomorrow” and then used the temporal function of ranhou to say “and then air it.” The time point of “washing” occurred before “airing,” and the two actions are connected by a time sequence.
Example 1 (YIN, 3;1): YIN was playing with the pacifier.
*YIN: 明天 妳 把 這 個 洗一洗.
mingtian ni ba zhe ge xiyixi.
tomorrow you BA this CL wash
“You wash this tomorrow.”
*YIN: 然後 晾乾. ranhou lianggan.
then air
“And then air (it).”
(2) Additive:
When ranhou serves as the additive function, it links together a series of related events or actions, and does not manifest as an overt time sequence. Each of them is encompassed within a larger discourse frame. Example 2 demonstrates children’s additive function of ranhou. In Example 2, when YIN was playing with toys and pretended to cook something, she used the additive function of ranhou to connect two related events, “one pot is to cook grapes” and “one pot is to cook corns,” which do not have an overt indication of time sequence.
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Example 2 (YIN, 3;1): YIN pretended to cook something.
*YIN: 媽媽 還 有 一 個 鍋子 要 煮 葡萄 的.
“And a pot is going to cook corn.”
One thing to note is that the lists function proposed by Su (1998) was not adopted because this function is similar to the additive function. Example 3 was excerpted from Su’s example of lists function. In Example 3, Su mentioned that the speaker begins by listing a member of the set (e.g. chorus, folk band music) and then adds another entity (military band) to the list. However, this “adding another entity” is similar to the additive function, which links successive ideas or related events. This function is therefore not included in the study.
Example 3 (pp.173-174 of Su)
ADU: 除了 體育 活動 以外 還 有 其他 的.
chule tiyu huodong yiwai hai you qita de.
besides sports activity else still have else NOM
“Besides sports, there are other (activities).”
ADU: 比如 說 有 合唱 隊.
biru shuo you hechang dui.
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“For example, there is a chorus team.”
ADU: 一 個 禮拜 活動 一次.
“There is a folk music band.”
ADU: 那些 二胡 和 什麼 笛子.
naxie erhu han shenme dizi.
those erhu fiddles and what flutes
“Such as erhu fiddles and flutes.”
ADU: 然後 還 有 軍 樂隊. ranhou hai you jun yuedui.
and still have military band
“And there is a military band.”
(3) Causal:
The function of ranhou for causal meaning pays more attention to the outcome resulting from a previous proposition. It focuses more on the logical cause-and-effect between two events or actions. Example 4 shows children’s causal function of ranhou.
In Example 4, LEE said “JEE was pulling LIN’s pants at that time,” and used the causal function of ranhou to say “so it caused LIN’s pants to fall off.”
Example 4 (LEE, 5;1): LEE was talking about an interesting thing at school to her mother.
*MOT: 你 給 JEE 脫 褲子 喔?
ni gei JEE tuo kuzi o?
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“You took off JEE’s pants?”
*LEE: 沒 有!
“JEE was pulling LIN’s pants at that time.”
*LEE: 然後 害 LIN 的 褲子 掉 下來! ranhou hai LIN de kuzi diao xialai!
so cause (name) GEN pants fall off
“So it caused LIN’s pants to fall off.”
(4) Contrast:
When ranhou serves as a contrast function, its basic meaning is “contrary to expectation.” It connects the phrases or utterances which the logical relation of the latter utterance is opposite to the expectation of the former one. Example 5 demonstrates children’s contrast function of ranhou. In Example 5, when YIN and her mother were reading a storybook, YIN said “Xiao-bu used the big one,” and used the contrast function of ranhou to show the opposite of her expectation that “but Nu-nu used the small one.”
Example 5 (YIN, 3;1): YIN and her mother were reading a storybook.
*YIN: 為什麼 小布 用 大 的 然後 努努 用 小 的? weishenme xiao-bu yong da de ranhou nu-nu yong xiao de?
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“Why did Xiao-bu use the big one and Nu-nu use the small one?”
*MOT: 阿 努努 比較 大 還是 小布 比較 大?
a nu-nu bijiao da haishi xiao-bu bijiao da?
uh (name) more big or (name) more big
“Was Nu-nu bigger or was Xiao-bu bigger?”
*YIN: 小布.
xiao-bu . (name)
“Xiao-bu.”
3.2.2 Ranhou as the discourse marker
(1) Verbal filler:
When ranhou functions as verbal filler, it indicates that the speaker is thinking of what they are going to say or has some difficulty retrieving the words they wish to say.
So here ranhou functions to fill the empty time slot. It may occur after or before a pause, or it may end in an incomplete sentence and is then followed by another ranhou. Example 6 shows children’s verbal filler function of ranhou. In Example 6,
TIN’s verbal filler function of ranhou was followed by the sound lengthening and pause, indicating TIN was thinking of what she was going to say.
Example 6 (TIN, 2;10): TIN and her mother were reading a storybook.
*TIN: 等 什麼?
deng shenme?
wait what
“Who was (it) waiting for?”
*MOT: 等 奴奴 啊!
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“(It) was waiting for Nu-nu.”
*MOT: 等 奴奴 來 啊!
deng nu-nu lai a!
wait (name) come PRT
“(It) was waiting for Nu-nu to come.”
*TIN: 然後 -: # 那 奴奴 為什麼 要 來? ranhou-: # na nu-nu weishenme yao lai?
well x (name) why need come
“Well, why did Nu-nu come?”
*MOT: 奴奴 要 過來 幫忙 刷 油漆 啊!
nu-nu yao guolai bangmang shua youqi a!
(name) need come help brush paint PRT
“Nu-nu came to help to paint.”
In Example 7, YOU’s use of ranhou was not followed by any words, indicating ranhou here has the verbal filler function rather than the connective function. And it
was followed by another ranhou to connect the following utterance.
Example 7 (YOU, 5;3): YOU and his mother were reading a storybook about color changing of the caterpillar.
*YOU: 是 黑 的 然後 是 黑 白 黑 白 的.
shi hei de ranhou shi hei bai hei bai de.
COP black NOM then COP black white black white NOM
“(It) is black and then black and white.”
*MOT: 黑 白 黑 白 的 喔.
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“Then when it turned green it grew like this.”
(2) Topic succession:
When ranhou serves as a topic succession function, it is used so that the transition from one speaker to another seems justified because one carries on the topic where the other speaker stops. It is a mechanism for turn-taking so that the interaction in the conversation seems coherent. Example 8 demonstrates children’s topic succession function of ranhou. In Example 8, LEE’s mother was talking about washing and cutting vegetables. When the mother stopped and it was LEE’s turn, LEE used the topic succession function of ranhou to carry on the topic about cutting vegetables so that the turn-taking seems smooth.
Example 8 (LEE, 5;2): LEE and her mother were washing vegetables.
*MOT: 好 先 洗一洗.
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When ranhou is functioning as a resumptive opener, it does not establish a sequential relationship, but rather resumes the old topic just mentioned. Example 9 demonstrates children’s resumptive opener function of ranhou. In Example 9, BUO was playing with a toy car, fire engine. BUO’s mother asked BUO a question, but BUO did not immediately respond to that question. Instead, he used the resumptive opener function of ranhou to go back to the old topic “toy car” he wanted to talk about.
Example 9 (BUO, 3;2): BUO and his mother were playing with the toy car (fire engine).
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ok PFV x fire engine need back CRS “Ok. The fire engine is going to go back.”
*MOT: 今天 自己 吃飯 還是 給 李 老師 餵?
jintian ziji chifan haishi gei li laoshi wei?
today self have lunch or to Lee teacher feed
“(You) had lunch by yourself or Ms. Lee fed (you) today?”
*BUO: 今天 給 # <自己 吃> [//] 李 老師 餵.
jintian gei # <ziji chi> [//] li laoshi wei.
today to self eat Lee teacher feed “Ms. Lee fed (me) today.”
*BUO: 然後 它 就 會 失火 [% playing with the fire engine]. ranhou ta jiu hui shihuo [% playing with the fire engine].
well it just will fire
“It would catch fire.”
*BUO: 它 # /dung -: /.
ta # /dung -: /.
it bang “It banged.”
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Chapter 4
Results
This chapter presents the findings of the three research questions in the present study, respectively. The first research question, concerning the distribution of ranhou, including its frequency and its distribution as connectives or discourse markers, was shown in section 4.1. In section 4.2, regarding the second research question, the quantitative and qualitative analyses of children’s ranhou as connectives were analyzed, including the temporal, additive, causal, and contrast functions of ranhou.
In section 4.3, with regard to the third research question, the quantitative and qualitative analyses of children’s ranhou as discourse markers were analyzed, including the verbal filler, topic succession, and resumptive opener functions of ranhou.
4.1 The distribution of ranhou
Table 2 presents the frequency of ranhou used by all subjects in the two age groups. As seen in the table, all utterances in Group 1 and Group 2 were 4864 and 5105 respectively. Among the utterances, the utterances with ranhou in Group 1 and Group 2 were 82 and 130 respectively. As to the proportions of utterances with
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ranhou in all utterances, Group 1 was 1.69% while Group 2 was 2.55%. It shows that
children’s use of ranhou in conversations increased with age. The results were inconsistent with Yeh’s (2011) findings, which suggested that the frequency of ranhou decreased with age.
Table 2
The Frequency of Ranhou in the Two Age Groups Subjects Utterances with
ranhou
All utterances % of utterances with ranhou
As shown in Table 2, younger children used less ranhou than older children.
However, YIN’s proportion of utterances with ranhou in all utterances was 4.04%, which was far more than other children in the same group. The possible reason may be that YIN used several consecutive uses of ranhou, which may increase the frequency of ranhou, and this use was not usually seen in other children’s data.
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Example 10 shows YIN’s consecutive use of ranhou. In Example 10, YIN used ranhou three times in a row to connect her utterances, which were “then he goes to
school in Taipei,” “and I waited for him at home” and “then he sent a letter to me.”
Example 10 (YIN, 3;1): YIN and her mother were playing toys.
*MOT: 這麼 棒 喔.
zheme bang o.
so great PRT
“So great.”
*YIN: 然後 他 去 台北 上學. ranhou ta qu taibei shangxue.
then he go Taipei go to school
“Then he goes to school in Taipei.”
*YIN: 然後 我 在 家裡 等 他.
It appears that children in the younger group used less ranhou. However, SEN’s proportion of utterances with ranhou in all utterances was only 0.35%, which was far less than other children in the same group. The reason why SEN used fewer ranhou was not that clear. Several reasons which might have led to SEN’s few tokens of
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ranhou were proposed. First, in other children’s data, the children’s mother sometimes
used utterances with ranhou to ask children questions to induce their children’s use of ranhou, but SEN’s mother rarely used utterances with ranhou in this way. The only
example in SEN’s data can be seen in Example 11. In Example 11, SEN’s mother used ranhou to ask SEN a question, and SEN answered the mother’s question with ranhou. Second, ranhou could be used to connect events or to make the conversation
more coherent. But in SEN’s data, most of his utterances were just a short reply to his mother, so ranhou might not occur in such circumstances.
Example 11 (SEN, 2;8): SEN and his mother were reading a storybook.
*MOT: 他 在 睡覺.
“Then Sun Wu-kong was kidnapped.”
In order to understand the distribution of the use of ranhou, the use of ranhou as