Reception of Information

Table 5. Functions of FRT O in MSN Talk

We will discuss the functions of FRT o in the following order. Section 4.2.1 presents FRT o as a token of marking reception of information. Then in section Section 4.2.2 examines FRT o tagged to the end of a new topic or subtopic, which is introduced by the prior speaker. In section 4.2.3, we examine contexts where FRT o serves as a mitigator, smoothing the tone of imperatives and revealing the speaker’s warning/suggestion. 4.2.4 centers on how FRT o is attached to an utterance to form a question. Finally, section 4.2.5 summarizes the finding on FRT o.

4.2.1 Reception of Information

Similar to IRT o, when o suffixes a head utterance, it may serve as a marker of indicating the reception of the information. However, the status of the announced news is new to the current speaker, in contrast with IRT o which does not always respond to new information. 45.1% (189/419) of FRT o fall into this category.

Observe (4.15) below, for example.

(4.15) (Lines are omitted, in which OS asks XT whether she is back to Taipei since XT went back to her hometown, Tainan several days ago. However, XT is still in Tainan now.)

OS5: tainan ye hen re ba 台南 也 很 熱 吧 Tainan too very hot PAR Functions Reception of

Information

Other-Initiated Topic

Mitigator Requesting for

Clarifications Sum 189 (45.1%) 35 (8.4%) 13 (2.9%) 182 (43.7%) Total 419(100%)

‘It is also hot in Tainan, isn’t it?’

XT6: en 恩 RT

‘Mm.’

XT7: dan bu men 但 不 悶 but NEG sultry

‘But it is not sultry.’

ÆOS6: zheyang o 這樣 喔 this FRT ‘I see.’

(…the end of the current topic)

Knowing that XT is still in Tainan now, OS continues to guess about the weather in Tainan (OS5). XT then confirms that OS’s guess is correct but she parenthetically adds that it is hot but not sultry in Tainan (XT6 and XT7). The following response with FRT o in OS6 only marks the receipt of the new and unexpected informing with little substantial meaning. This appears to exhibit the chatter’s detachment, which is further proved by the immediate curtailment of the current topic.

In addition to being attached to a head utterance without specific meaning, FRT o can also be attached to an utterance reduplicating the prior informing, marking not only the speaker’s receipt of information but his/her tone of surprise.

(4.16) BB1: 你 最進[近] 有 沒 物色 到 不 錯 看 ni zueijin you mei wuse dao bu cuo kan 2SG recent have NEG pick reach NEG bad look

ㄉ[的] 阿 de a ASSOC PAR

‘Have you found a boy who is handsome (at your school) recently?’

BB2: ha ha

哈哈 ha ha

‘Ha.’

JA1: mei you 沒 有 NEG have

‘No.’

BB3: mei you 沒 有?

NEG have

‘No?’

JA2: a you la ㄚ[阿] 有 啦 PAR have PAR

‘Ok, yes.’

JA3: jita she gongguan 吉他 社 工[公]關 guitar club publicist

‘He is the publicist in the guitar club.’

ÆBB4: you o 有 喔!!

have FRT ‘Really?’

JA4: zhi you <L2 only one L2>

只 有 <L2 only oneL2>

only have only one JA5: jita she gongguan

吉他 色[社] 公關 guitar club publicist

JA4-5: (I only find that ) the publicist of the guitar club is handsome.’

BB5: hen shuai ma 很 帥 嗎 very handsome PAR ‘Is he very handsome?’

BB proffers an enquiry about whether JA meets any handsome boys in her new school (BB1). At first, JA provides a negative answer, which arouses BB’s doubt (JA1 and

BB3). Then JA corrects her answer and tells BB that she indeed meets a handsome boy, which counters BB’s expectation. BB projects an utterance as an echo by reduplicating the prior answer with a suffix o (BB4). It mainly functions as a news receipt, marking the receipt of the prior informing and the chatter’s unexpectedness, which can be further inferred from the exclamation mark following o. In addition, it is worth noting that BB seems to show much interest in this piece of news in that she proposes another question to pursue information about the boy whom JA admires (BB5).

Moreover, the attachment of FRT o to an utterance can signify the speaker’s surprise and his/her implied disagreement concurrently, as exemplified in (4.17).

(4.17) (MI is asking CW’s about the recent life of her boyfriend, River. River is good at sports and was on the school team before. He is preparing for the coming Joint College Entrance Exam again beacuase he failed last year.)

MI8: na ta xiangyao nian na yi fangmian de a 那 他 想要 念 哪 一 方面 ㄉ[的] 阿 then 3SG want study which one aspect NOM PAR

‘Then which field does he prefer majoring in?’

MI9: hai shi tiyu ma 還 是 體育 ㄇ[嗎]？

still COP physical-education PAR

‘Does he still prefer physical education?’

…(There are two lines omitted here. CW tells which university River wants to apply for.)

　 　 CW7: shang ba 商 吧 business PAR

‘(Maybe) business.’

　 　 MI11: shang bu fuhe ta 商？！ 不 符合 他 business NEG match 3SG

‘Business? I don’t think that he should major in this field.’

…(There are eight lines omitted here. MI asks CW whether River studies by

himself or goes to cram school. CW tells MI that River goes to take a Chinese course in the cram school.)

MI15: weisheme yao bao guowen a 為什ㄇ[麼] 要 抱[報] 國文 啊 why want register Chinese PAR

‘Why did he take a Chinese course (at cram school)?’

CW14: yiwie ta zhi ai guowen 因為 他 只 愛 國文 because 3SG only love Chinese

‘Because he is only interested in Chinese.’

MI16: bu shi yigai yao bao quan ke ban 不 是 應該 要 抱 拳[全] 科 班 NEG COP should need register all subject class zhi lei de ma

之 類 ㄉ[的] ㄇ[嗎]

of kind NOM PAR CW15: ta yao kao wu yue de

他 要 考 五 月 ㄉ[的]

3SG want take May month NOM

‘He wants to take the (Joint College Entrance Exam) held in May.’

ÆMI17: ta ai guowen o

他 愛 國文 喔＝ ＝ 3SG love Chinese PAR

‘(Are you sure) that he is interested in Chinese?’

MI assumes that River is good at sports and he may want to major in sports (MI9).

However, CW tells MI that River wants to apply for a business department (CW7), which stands in disagreement with MI’s expectation (MI11). MI then is curious about whether River goes to cram school. CW tells MI that River does not take all the courses but only the Chinese course in the cram school, which again arouses MI’s interest (MI15). CW replies to MI that River is interested in Chinese only, which is beyond MI’s expectation since it is unusual that a sport-loving person like River is interested in classical Chinese. Hence, in MI17, in addition to showing her unexpectedness, MI simultaneously reveals the tone of disbelief, which can be further

implied in the following sign of ‘= =’ because such a symbol signifies the chatter’s incredibility.

Similarly, FRT o can be attached to an assessment which does not contribute much referential meaning to the prior turn as well. On the whole, this structure is used to express the speaker’s subjective assessment, as illustrated in example (4.18).

(4.18) GG1: zuo tian wo gen ban shang de tongxue qu qianguei 昨 天 我 跟 班 上 ㄉ[的] 同學 去 錢櫃 last day 1SG with class up ASSOC tongxue qu Cashbox

‘I went to the Karaoke box Cashbox with my classmates yesterday.’

GG2: zhonghua xin guan zhen bang 中華 新 館 真 棒 Zhonghua new building really great

‘The new branch of Zhonghua building is really great.’

ÆMA1: hao hao o 好 好 喔 good good PAR

‘I envy you going there.’

GG3: baituo wo yi liang nian mei chang guo ge le 拜託 我 1、 2 年 沒唱過歌 ㄌ[了]

request 1SG one two year NEG sing EXP song CRS

‘Come on! I haven’t sung in a Karaoke box for about one or two years.’

GG4: buguo mei you xiang daxue nayang ai chang le 不過 沒 有 像 大學 那樣 愛 唱 ㄌ[了]

but NEG have like college that-way love sing CRS

‘But I don’t like to go there as often as I did in college.’

MA2: en en zuei you sha ge hao chang 恩恩 最近 有 啥 哥[歌] 好 唱 RT recently have what song good sing

‘Mm. Are there any good songs (for you) to sing (in the Karaoke box)?’

In this dialogue, GG informs MA that she goes to the new branch of a famous

Karaoke box (GG1 and GG2). After GG’s description, MA proposes her subjective evaluation to comment on it. In MA1, ‘hao hao o’ signals the speaker’s envy towards GG’s activity. Basically, the function of FRT o serves as an information receipt, signaling the receipt of the information in the prior turn. The o-suffixed utterance does not involve much substantial meaning.

In this section, we have shown that almost half (45.1%) of the use of FRT o primarily signals the reception of the prior informing and does not contribute much semantic content to the prior informing, for example, by reduplicating the prior information. However, FRT o does not necessarily indicate the speaker’s detachment but frequently signals that the prior informing is contrary to the chatter’s expectation. In the next section, we will show another context where FRT o acts similarly to the ones discussed above, i.e. to tag a new topic/subtopic.