Chapter 5
Functions of Zhende o and Zhende ma
5.0 Introduction
In the previous chapter, we discuss the versatile functions of o. It is a change-of-state-token marking the reception of information and change of speaker’s knowledge state. In this chapter, we will explore the functions of zhende o and zhende ma for comparison. Based on the same databank, there are only 25 tokens of zhende o and 46 tokens of zhende ma identified in total. All of them can be classified into three main types, including when they are combined with a statement, with a question, and when they occur alone. Zhende o is taken up first.
5.1 Discourse Functions of Zhende o
In this section, we will discuss the discourse functions of zhende o based on different sequential contexts. Table 7 displays the distribution of zhende o in the databank.
Table 7. Types of Zhende o in MSN Talk
As shown in Table 7, the most frequent zhende o is the free-standing form, followed by those with a statement, and the last is those with a question. Based on this initial observation, in the following, we will look into the discourse functions of zhende o in each environment. 5.1.1 presents the functions of free-standing zhende o. 5.1.2
Types Free-standing With a Statement With a Question Sum 11
(44%)
9 (36%)
5 (20%)
Total 25(100%)
zhende o with a question. 5.1.4 provides a summary.
5.1.1 Free-standing Zhende o
Free-standing zhende o takes up 44% of all the occurrences. It serves as a token marking the reception of the prior new informing and implies the current chatter’s interest to pursue the topic:
(5.1) (JA, KU and some classmates do the part-time job in the same cram school. JA is planning next week’s schedule. She asks KU whether KU would like to work with her at the same period next Friday.)
KU6: keshi wo jintian jiu zhi zuo yi ge xiaoshi 可是 我 今天 就 只 做 1 ㄍ[個] 小時 but 1SG today just only do one CL hour
‘But I only did the part-time job for one hour.’
KU7: jiu juede he bu shuang 就絕[覺]ㄉ[的]很不爽
just feel very NEG comfortable
‘That made me unhappy.’
…(Twenty lines are omitted here. KU’s short working hour surprises JA.) KU26: yinggai bu hui zhi you yi ge xiaoshi bei
應該 不 會 只 有 1 ㄍ[個] 小時 唄 should NEG can only have one CL hour PAR
‘(Will the supervisor tell us that we can) only work for one hour?’
JA30: wo shi yigai hui zuo dao xiawu la 我 是 應該 會 做 到 下午 啦 1SG COP should can do until afternoon PAR
‘I think I will work (from morning) to afternoon.’
JA31: yinwei ta shuo keyi yi zheng tian a 因為 它[他]說可以一鄭[整]天ㄚ[阿]
‘Because the supervisor told me that I can work all day long.’
ÆKU27: zhende o 真ㄉ[的]喔~ RT
‘Really?’
JA32: en
嗯 RT
‘Mm.’
JA33: keshi wo bu zhidao ni men o 可是 我 不 知道 你 們 歐 but 1SG NEG know 2SG PL FRT
‘But I don’t know whether the supervisor will also allow you to work all day long as well.’
(In the following, KU continues to ask JA about whether the supervisor will allow her to have more working hours as well.)
KU wants to make more money during summer vacation. Yet she is grudging about her job because after working for only one hour, she was asked to go home (KU and KU7). Thus, when JA asks KU whether she wants to work with her at the same period next Friday, KU asks whether the supervisor may only allow them to work one hour that day (KU26). JA in turn tells KU that they can work all day until the afternoon, which is contrary to KU’s expectation (JA31). KU then replies with zhende o to mark the receipt of the prior new information and her unexpectedness.
Compared with shi-o, such an answer responding to KU’s wish shows that KU is eager to know more and the topic continues to be developed. As indicated in the previous chapter, FRT o suggests the chatter’s uncertainty and thus reconfirmation often follows, as is also true in English “really” (Heritage 1984:340, citing Jefferson 1981: 62-6).
5.1.2 With a Statement
The structure of zhende o followed by a statement makes up for 36% of the total occurrences of zhende o (9/25).
(5.2) (KU, JA, and Jean are good friends.)
KU1: Eric yao chu guo le ye Eric 要 出 國 ㄌ[了] ㄝ[耶]
Eric want go nation CRS PAR
‘Y’d know, Erick is going abroad.’
JA1: shi o 是喔 RT
‘Is that so?’
JA2: na ta gen Jean li 那 它[他] 跟 Jean 哩？
that 3SG with Jean PAR
‘What about the relationship between him and Jean?’
KU2: liang nian cai heilai 2 年 才 回來...
two year just back.
‘Not until after two years later will Eric come back.’
ÆJA3: zhende o hao jiu o 真ㄉ[的]喔．．．．．．．．．好 久 歐[喔]
RT very long FRT
‘Really? What a long time!’
JA4: tian a 天 ㄚ[阿]
day PAR
‘My Godness.’
KU3: dui a 對 阿 RT PAR
‘Yeah.’
JA5: na shi qu a 哪 時 去 阿 which time go PAR
‘When will Eric leave for?’
KU4: Eric shuo hui deng ta Eric 說 會 等 她 Eric say will wait 3SG
‘Eric said that he will be waiting for her.’
KU5: qi yue ershi ji hao 7 月 20 幾 號
seven month twenty several date
‘He will leave on July twenty-something.’
JA6: buguo wo juede bu tai hui deng ba 不過 五[我] 覺得 . . 不 太 會 等 吧 but 1SG feel NEG too will wait PAR
‘But I don’t think he will be waiting for Jean.’
(The topic continues to focus on the details of the topic.)
KU makes a news announcement that Eric will go abroad for further study. On the receipt of the news, shi-o is projected by JA to mark the receipt of the news and then a question in JA2 is made about further information that JA is eager to know. In response to KU2 that Eric will stay abroad for two years, zhende o is produced by JA to indicate her receipt of the new and unexpected information and she shifts to offer her subjective evaluation on this fact. The statement after zhende o in JA3 strengthens JA’s concern about the time and foreshadows that long separation might affect Eric and Jean’s relationship. This is supported by JA6 where she thinks that they will be separated at the end. The overall talk by JA suggests a great consideration by JA about the relationship between Eric and Jean.
Note that in JA1 the response token used is shi-o. It appears that shi-o JA1 and zhende o are exchangeable in that both of them can be employed in response to the prior new and unexpected informing. However, as has been discussed in chapter 3, shi-o frequently occurs in a dispreferred environment foreshadowing the speaker’s disinterest. In JA3, in contrast, JA uses zhende o to signal the speaker’s concern and sincerity about the new and unexpected information, as evidenced by the further talk by JA.
In the following, we will move on to examine the discourse function of zhende o in conjunction with a question.
5.1.3 With a Question
Just as a statement can follow zhende o to show the speaker’s participation, so can a question. In (5.3), XT issues a news announcement.
(5.3) XT1: ou yianhuo o 有 煙火 喔 have firework FRT
‘Y’know, there is a firework show.’
XT2: women zhe bian 我們 這 邊 1PL this side
‘(It is ) just near my place.’
ÆOS1: zhende o you huodong ma 真的喔 有 活動 嗎 RT have activity PAR
‘Is there a (special) activity held (there)?’
XT3: bu shi de 不 是 的 NEG COP NOM
‘No.’
XT4: wo zhu kao hai 我 住 靠 海 1SG live near sea
‘I live near the sea.’
XT5: you shihao hui you ren zai hai bian fang yianhuo 有 時候 會 有 人 在 海 邊 放 煙火 have moment will have person at sea side release firework
‘Sometimes there are people set off firework near the sea.’
OS2: a hao hao o 啊 好 好 喔 RT good good FRT
‘I envy you so much.’
(OS continues to talk about how much she likes the show of firework.)
XT informs OS of a firework show at XT’s neighborhood by means of FRT o attached
to a message (cf. Li 1999:147 on Taiwanese o). This new and unexpected informing is followed by zhende o to show OS’s surprise and interest. In the later part of the same turn, she continues to propose an inquiry about whether there is any special activity held near XT’s place. This suggests that the question following zhende o is to show the speaker’s high involvement and interest in the prior information since OS encourages XT to continue the talk further. That the topic appeals to OS is further supported by the subsequent talk in OS2, which shows OS’s envy.
The discussion above demonstrates that when zhende o occurs after a news announcement, it signals the chatter’s interest. In the following, it will be shown that even though zhende o preceded by a disagreement in a quarrel, it still signals the speaker interest into the topic. On the other hand, the combination of zhende and FRT o yields a question whereby the speaker shows a strong doubt of truth value of the prior statement. An instantiation is (5.4):
(5.4) (KU and JA are discussing which senior high school they should apply to. KU has to hand in the application form the following day.)
JA7: buran ni jiu xian bie dong 不然 你 就 先 別 動 or 2SG just first NEG move
‘Or you just put the (application form) aside.’
JA8: mingtian qu zai yong 明天 去 再 用 tomorrow go again use
‘(You can) fill in the form tomorrow.’
JA9: Dolly ye shi jiang Dolly 也 是 匠[這樣]
Dolly too COP this-way
‘Dolly also stopped filling the application form (now and waits until tomorrow).’
JA10: dajia gei ni yijian 大家 給 你 意見
everyone give 2SG opinion
‘Everyone can give you some suggestions before you make the final decision tomorrow).’
JA11: keneng hui bijiao hao 可能 會 比較 好
‘it would be better to do so.’
ÆKU5: zhende o 真ㄉ[的]喔~ RT
‘Really?’
KU6: bu dong o 不 動 喔~
NEG move FRT
‘(Are you sure that it would be better to) stop filling the application form now?’
JA12: wo juede 我 覺得 1SG feel
‘In my opinion,’
JA13: xian bu dong 先 不 動 first NEG move
‘just put it aside now.’
KU7: hui bu hui hen weixian a 會 部[不] 會 很 危險 阿?
will NEG will very dangerous PAR
‘Would it be risky if I don’t finish filling in the application form now?’
(The topic continues.)
In example (5.4), KU is asking JA which school she should apply to. After several turns of discussion, JA suggests KU that she suspend the decision until she listens to more opinions just like what Dolly did (JA7 to JA9). Here zhende o implies that KU’s unexpectedness and disagreement (KU5). The following o-suffixed utterance further support the speaker’s tone since it marks the speaker’s doubt and uncertainty (KU6).
5.1.4 Summary
Essentially, zhende o is a response token in reply to a new and unexpected informing. It marks not only the receipt of the new informing but the speaker’s surprise. However, zhende o seldom occurs in the dispreferred environment signling the speaker’s disinterest or indifference since a free-standing zhende o does not put an end to the current topic. This may account for why free-standing zhende o is the most freqeust type in its distribution since this token itself is continuative and shows the speaker’s interest. Besides, due to the fact that the prior informing is so unexpected that the speaker uses the zhende o to indicate the reception, it is reasonable that he/she may show his/her involvement by commenting on the noteworthy piece of informing in the immediately following talk. On the other hand, the current speaker can also design a next turn for the next speaker to further the topic.
Furthermore, given that the news responded to is unexpected, zhende o therefore can prefigure the coming of the question to challenge the prior speaker based on the conversational contexts when two speakers have different opinions.
So far, we have seen that zhende o functions as an RT in response to new and more unexpected informing. In the next section, we are going to look at a similar RT, zhende ma.
5.2 Discourse Functions of Zhende ma
Zhende ma is a response clause containing a predicative element which concerns the truth of a statement and a particle ma attached to it to form a question (Li and Thompson 1981:307). The distribution of types of zhende ma is similar to that of zhende o. The most frequent zhende ma is the free-standing form, followed by the
Table 8. Types of Zhende ma in MSN Talk
Different functions are derived from this basic meaning of zhende ma in different conversational contexts. In the following, we will discuss the functions of zhende ma on the basis of the following three types: (1) free-standing zhende ma; (2) zhende ma with a statement and (3) zhende ma with a question.
5.2.1 Free-standing Zhende ma
Free-standing zhende ma accounts for the highest frequency of all the occurrences, about 47.8% (22/46). Owing to the fact that final particle ma is frequently attached to an utterance in the second-pair part to ‘challenge the validity of the first proposition’ (Shie 1991:188), a free-standing zhende ma can occur after an informing to doubt its validity. Take (5.5) as an example.
(5.5) (CW works in a toy store with Sunny but Sunny decides to quit the job. OK wants to substitute for her to do the job.)
CW22: qian bu hao zhuan 錢 不 好 賺 money NEG good make
‘It is not easy to make money.’
CW23: ni qu yinliao dian la 你 去 飲料 店 啦 2SG go drink shop PAR
‘You had better work in a drink shop.’
CW24: wo qu pengchang 我 去 捧廠[場]
Types Free-standing With a Statement
With a Question Sum 22
(47.8%)
18 (39.1%)
6 (13.0%)
Total 46(100%)
1SG go buy
‘I will be a frequent customer of your shop.’
ÆOK17: zhende ma 真的嗎 RT
‘Really?’
CW25: en en 嗯嗯 RT
‘Mm Mm.’
OK18: yinliao dian geng xinku ba 飲料 店 更 辛苦 吧 drink shop more laborious PAR
‘Working in a drink shop should be more laborious.’
OK19: shou hen suan 手 很 酸 hand very ache
‘My hands get tired easily.’
CW25: wo de bu qingsong 我 的 不 輕鬆=_=
1SG GEN NEG easy
‘My job is really not easy one.’
(OK and CW continue to argue with each other.)
Although OK is interested in CW’s job, CW persuades her not to work in the toy store since it is not an easy job. She suggests that OK work in a drink shop in CW23 and CW24, and OK replies with zhende ma in OK17. Zhende ma here signals that the speaker suspects the truth of the prior statement, which can be proved by the following challenging responses in OK18 and OK19. OK argues that working in a drink shop is more toilsome than in a toy store, which indicates the speaker’s disagreement/doubt explicitly. The reconfirmation, en en in CW25 after zhende ma often occurs since the final particle ma makes zhende ma a question. By contrast, CW still insists on her position and responds with another contrastive statement to
defend herself that she is not making easy money.
In addition to showing real doubt, when the first part of the pair is a compliment expression, zhende ma can be used in the second part to minimize the degree of compliment in order to show the speaker’s politeness. This can be exemplified by excerpt (5.6).
(5.6) (XT and OS display their pictures to each other on the Internet. OS keeps a dog and three cats, which appear in the pictures.)
XT31: zhaopian zai zang yi ci 照片 再 放 一 次 picture again put one time
‘Show your picture again.’
XT32: zhe zhaopian hao kan duo le 這 照片 好 看 多 了 this picture good look more CRS
‘The picture looks much better.’
OS25: zeyang ne 怎樣 呢 how PAR
‘Is there anything wrong?’
OS26: sha yisi a 啥 意思 啊
‘What do you mean?’
XT33: gou xiang bu wawa 狗 像 布 娃娃 dog like clothe doll
‘(Your) dong looks like a stuffed doll.’
ÆOS27: zhende ma 真的嗎 RT ‘Really?’
XT34: en 恩 RT
‘Mm.’
XT35: ren bijiao piaoliang 人 比較 漂亮 person compare beautiful
‘The person is more beautiful than the pet.’
OS28: xiexie ni zhen hao you zai bang wo jianli zixin 謝謝 你 真 好 又 在 幫 我 建立 自信
thank 2SG really good again DUR help 1SG establish confidence le
了 CRS
‘Thank you. You are nice. You are helping me establish confidence in my appearance again.
XT36: sheme shihou pai de 什麼 時候 拍 的?
what moment take NOM
‘When was the picture taken?’
In XT 31, XT asks OS to show the pictures again in that she wants to browse more pictures of OS. XT then compliments OS’s pet dog on its cute looks, which is like a stuffed doll (XT33). According to Pomerantz (1978:81), most people do not accept compliments with grace and hence compliment responses lie in between rejections and disagreements. In this example, after this praise in XT33, OS in OS27 produces zhende ma showing her suspicion in order to minimize the degree of compliment and to show her modesty (Leech 1983: 136-38). However, en in XT34 arising from the RT zhende ma reassures OS of the praise on OS’s dog. Furthermore, XT praises OS’s appearance as well in XT35. OS then accepts the compliment but then returns another compliment to XT to scale down the self-praise (cf. Pomerantz 1978:105;
Leech 1983:137).
Based on the fact that zhende ma is frequently used to doubt the validity of the prior statement, it commonly occurs to signal the speaker’s extreme surprise after a
piece of news since the information is completely beyond the speaker’s expectation.
(5.7) MI1: ni kan guo Shelly de nan pengyou le
你 看 過 Shelly ㄉ[的] 男 朋友 ㄌ[了]？？
2SG see EXP Shelly GEN boy friend PFV
‘You have seen Shelly’s boyfriend, haven’t you?’
CW1: you ya 有 呀 have PAR
‘Yes, I have.’
CW2: wan guo da fuweng 玩 過 大 富翁 play EXP big millionaire
‘I have played Monopoly with (him).’
ÆMI2: zhende ma
真ㄉ[的]ㄇ[嗎]？？
RT
‘Really?’
CW3: wo gen ni shuo o ta men fuqi liang 我 跟 你 說 喔~ 他 們 夫妻 倆 1SG with 2SG say FRT 3SG PL husband-and-wife both hen hao xiao
很 好 笑 very good funny
‘You know, the couple is very funny.’
CW4: dou pochan le 都 破產 了 both bankrupt CRS
‘(They) both went bankrupt.’
(The topic continues to be developed on describing the interaction among CW and the couple.)
In her turn starting in MI1, MI asks CW about whether she has met Shelly’s boyfriend.
Replying to MI in CW1 and CW2, CW tells MI that she not only met him but played the game Monopoly with him, which is responded to with zhende ma in MI2. Then
CW continues to report the details of the situation when she played Monopoly with Shelly and her boyfriend. Notice that the primary function of zhende ma in MI2 is not to request for the truth of the prior of statement. Rather it marks that the prior informing is so unbelievable and surprising to MI that she may even doubt the truthfulness of the information. Additionally, zhende ma here corresponds to the
‘request-to-tell’ form, motivating the next speaker to further the talk after a new piece of informing.
Examples (5.5) to (5.7) demonstrate that free-standing zhende ma is a response token to new and unexpected informing, showing the speaker’s extreme surprise and interest. This characteristic is developed from the question marker ma together with the utterance zhende which is used to inquire about the truth of the preceding statement. Depending on the conversational contexts, it can imply the speaker’s doubt/disagreement in a quarrelsome talk or minimize the force of a compliment from other interlocutors. Occurring after a new topic which is going to be developed, this question-like combination corresponding to a request-to-tell form prompts the topic of talk to proceed. Additionally, after surprising information, the speaker may use not only zhende ma to designate his/her unexpectedness but also a statement in the following to comment on this newsworthy information, as will be discussed below.
5.2.2 With a Statement
Zhende ma does not only occur singly. It can be combined with a statement in response to an informing (39.1%, 18/46), and the extreme unexpectedness that zhende ma indicates is upgraded with the later statement explicitly.
(5.8) (BB was JA’s elementary school classmate. BB wants to invite JA to attend the class reunion. JA originally rejected BB’s invitation and had a quarrel with BB because she considered that they are not close now. But later JA accepted
the invitation.)
JA70: zui jin wo xingqi liu zaoshang shi shiyi dian 最進[近]...我 星期 6 早上 10. 11 點 recent 1SG week six morning ten eleven o’clock dao xiawu liang dian dou <L2 ok L2>
到 下五[午] 2 點 都 <L2 ok L1>
until afternoon two o’clock all ok
‘Recently, I am available from about ten or eleven on the morning to two o’clock on the afternoon of Saturday.’
JA71: ruguo <L2 ok L2> de hua jiu zhe duan shijian ba 如果 ok 的 話 就 這 段 時間 吧 if ok ASSOC word just this period time PAR
‘If the period of time sounds convenient to you, just meet one another during this period of time.’
ÆBB68: zhende ma 真的ㄇ[嗎] RT
‘Really?’
BB69: hao gaoxing o 好 高興 喔
‘I’m so glad to (hear that).’
JA73: (smiley)
BB70: wo kuai na bi jji xialai 我 快 拿 筆 記 下來 1SG hurry take pen note down
‘I need to hurry to take a pen to note down (the time you mentioned).’
JA74: a dui bu yao qu hen gui de difang ㄚ[阿]對~不 要 去 很 貴 的 第[地]方
‘Oh! Don’t choose a high-class restaurant for our meeting.’
JA75: wo pa 我 怕 $$
1SG afraid
‘I am afraid (that it will cost a lot).’
BB71: 這樣好像要見明星一樣ㄝ[耶]
Although JA originally rejected BB’s invitation, BB did not give up persuading her to attend the class reunion and even had a quarrel with JA. Finally, in JA70 and JA71,
JA makes concession. She decides to attend the activity and offers the time when she is available. This piece of informing is surpring to BB since JA originally did not want to meet their elementary school classmates who seem to be distant now.
Zhende ma in BB68 marks BB’s amazement and the statement in BB69 reflects BB’s rejoicing at JA’s acceptance. Here zhende ma still preserves the meaning of question and doubt, yet based on this meaning, it concentrates more on the fact that BB is so surprised that she even suspects the truth of JA’s promise. Besides, it is frequently related with the speaker’s high interest. The characteristics of high interest shown in zhende ma can be found in quarrelsome talk as well, as is going to be discussed in the next section.
5.2.3 With a Question
Zhende ma itself can signal the speaker’s doubt of the truth of the statement made by the prior speaker, and therefore it is often followed by a question to reinforce the speaker’s intention of refutation.
(5.9) (CW and MI are planning a trip with other classmates. They decide to ask MI’s boyfriend to drive them to the destination.)
CW21: chezi zuo bu xia ye 車子 坐 不 下 耶 car sit NEG in PAR
‘One car cannot accommodate all of us.’
CW22: you xiuluche ma
有 休旅車 嗎 =_=
‘Does anyone have a van?’
have
MI25: ji yidian yia 擠 一點 壓
‘We can crowd ourselves into a sedan.’
MI26: hao mian ji si ge
後 面 幾[擠] ４ ㄍ[個 ] back side crowd four CL
‘We can crowd four of us into the back seat of the sedan.’
MI27: yu dao jingcha duo yi xia 遇 到 警察 躲 一 下 meet reach police hide one CL
‘We can hide when bumping into a police officer.’
CW23: buguo hoaxing yao kai gaosu gonglu 不過∼ 好像 要 開 高速 公路 but seem need drive high-speed way
‘But it seems that we will drive on the freeway.’
MI28: you cha ma 有 差 ㄇ[嗎]
have difference PAR
‘Does it make any difference?’
CW24: zheyang jiu yao duo hao hui zhaoxiang a 這樣 就 要 躲 好 會 照相 啊
‘this-wa jst
CW25: ye bu zhidao nail you zhaoxinag ji zai 也 不 知道 哪裡 有 照相 機 在 too NEG know where have take-picture machine DUR 照
zhao take
‘We don’t know whether there will be a monitor to capture the picture of our illegal action.’
ÆMI28: zhende ma 真ㄉ[的]ㄇ[嗎] ‘Really?
MI29: duo zuo ji ge ren hui bei zhao ma 多 做[坐] 幾 個 人 會 被 照 ㄇ[嗎]
‘If there are more people in a car, will it be detected by the machine?’
CW26: wo bu qingchu ye 我 不 清楚 ㄟ[耶]
1SG NEG clear PAR
‘I am not sure.’
CW27: wo wen wen kan hao le
我 問 問 看 好 ㄌ[了]
1SG ask ask see ok CRS
‘Let me ask someone else about this.’
MI30: yingai bu hui ba 應該 不 會 ㄅ[吧]
should NEG can PAR
‘I don’t think the machines will detect (the situation inside the car).’
After CW and MI make sure that MI’s boyfriend will give them a ride during the trip, CW finds that it would be too crowded in one car in that there are over four people on this trip (CW21 and CW22). MI suggests that four people can sit in the back seats in the sedan (MI25 and MI26). CW proposes a warning that it will be illegal to take so many people in a sedan on the freeway (CW23, CW24, and CW25). This informing causes MI’s production of zhende ma marking her doubt in MI28 and another question is made to challenge the validity of the accounts in MI29. The question is made in pursuit of the current topic, showing that MI wants to make it clear whether they will be fined when so many people are in a car. CW then decreases her certainty about her own position in CW26 and CW27, which are followed by MI’s counter statement in MI30, challenging CW’s assertion.
(5.10) is a further example with zhende ma to mark the chatter’s high involvement.
(5.10) (CW and MI are discussing how to go on a diet.) CW8: wo gen tiao sheng bu tai shou
我 跟 跳 繩 不 太 熟
1SG with jump rope NEG too familiar
‘I am not familiar with rope jumping.’
CW9: buguo you yong 不過 有 用 but have use
‘But it does work (for diet).’
CW10: wo shenbian jiu you lizi 我 身邊 就 有 例子=_=
1SG beside just have example
‘It works on someone who I know.’
MI9: shei 誰？
who
‘Who?’
CW11: huang tongxue 黃 同學 Huang classmate
‘Mr. Huang.’
ÆMI10: zhende ma
真的ㄇ[嗎]？？
‘Really?’
MI11: you shou ma
有 受[瘦] ㄇ[嗎]？？
have thin PAR
‘Has he become thinner?’
CW12: en en 嗯嗯 RT
‘Mm.’
MI12: xiaoguo hao ma 效果 好 ㄇ[嗎]？
‘How was the effect of (rope jumping) on Mr. Huang?’
CW13: you ya 有 呀 have PAR
‘Of course.’
CW14: <L2 Sally L2> keyi dang jianzheng ren
<L2 Sally L2> 可以 當 見證 人 Sally can serve witness person
‘Sally can be the witness.’
MI tells CW that she wants to be slimmer but she fails although she has tried a variety of tips for a diet. CW then tells MI that she may try rope jumping and claims that
this tip makes her friend lose weight successfully (CW8, CW9, and CW10), which arouses MI’s high interest. MI immediately pursues the current topic by proposing an enquiry about who the successful one is (MI9). The answer elicited from the question again prompts MI’s production of zhende ma together with a question in the follow-up moves (MI10 and MI11). After CW’s reconfirmation in CW12, another question in MI12 is made on the effect of rope jumping, which is further supporting evidence explaining MI’s great eagerness to pursue the current topic.
Both (5.9) and (5.10) demonstrate that zhende ma-plus-question is used to explicitly mark the speaker’s doubt toward the truth of the prior statement and his/her higher involvement in the conversation. There are other affective meanings that are derived from this structure based on the sequential context. When two chatters are in a quarrelsome talk, zhende ma still shows the speaker’s high interest, but simultaneously it reveals the speaker’s disagreement on the grounds that the prior proposition runs counter to the speaker’s assumption. In other words, it is used to challenge the truth of the prior statement and the following question is used to reinforce the effect. When a favorable piece of news is issued, zhende ma is used to show the chatter’s surprise, which can be further reinforced if there is another question in the following.
5.2.4 Summary
To sum up, zhende ma is an RT marking extreme surprise of the chatter due to the fact that it is concerned with the truth value of the prior informing. The announced information is so unbelievable that the chatter uses zhende ma to challenge the validity of its assertion, no matter it is a good or bad piece of news. In the quarrelsome talk, if the prior talk clashes seriously with the chatter’s expectation,
5.3 Summary and Discussion
In this chapter, a range of uses of zhende o and zhende ma have been examined.
Both of them are used in response to new and unexpected informing and they are so- called newsmarkers (Heritage 1984:340 citing Jefferson’s (1981:62-6) discussion on really). A more detailed comparison is made before in terms of their differences and similarities.
The basic difference on the final particle of the two RTs so has obvious influence on the next turn given by another speaker. Zhende suffixed by o is used to signal that the prior informing was not in the current speaker’s information state and therefore it shows his/her uncertainty, which “indirectly” implies doubt of the truth value of prior statement. While zhende suffixed by the question marker ma is employed to show the current speaker’s doubt toward the truth value of the prior statement “directly,” electing the next speaker to continue to further the talk. The essential elements constituting the two RTs can explain speaker’s degree of interest after a news announcement. For example, compared to free-standing zhende o, free-standing zhende ma signals more motivation and higher interest of the current speaker’s to prompt the prior speaker to continue the talk.
Such observation can be found particularly in the quarrelsome talk. A free-standing zhende o softens the tone of the speaker’s doubt and disagreement, while zhende ma itself carries the tone of challenging truth of the prior proposition due to the final ma. Thus, it projects a much higher degree of doubt and disagreement, compared to zhende o.
However, the behaviors of zhende o and zhende ma are not completely different.
The highest frequencies of the two RTs are both free-standing form among the three types and the occurrences of them do not terminate the current topic soon, which
further testifies the overtone of high involvement. Besides, both zhende o and zhende ma can be followed by additional moves, such as a statement and a question.
These additional moves are used to reinforce the degree of the speaker’s affective meanings. As far as a statement is concerned, the speakers may comment on the brought up news after the two RTs. Questions after zhende o or zhende ma, on the other hand, are used by the speakers to guide the trajectory of the current talk.
In the next chapter, we will continue to compare similarities and differences of all the responses tokens in our study and discuss how speakers opt for one of the four response tokens, including o, shi-o, zhende o, and zhende ma in different contexts.
