@article{ART003178330},
author={Jiang Xia and Lee Han-gyu},
title={On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese},
journal={Cross-Cultural Studies},
issn={1598-0685},
year={2025},
volume={74},
pages={167-191},
doi={10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167}
TY - JOUR
AU - Jiang Xia
AU - Lee Han-gyu
TI - On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese
JO - Cross-Cultural Studies
PY - 2025
VL - 74
IS - null
PB - Center for Cross Culture Studies
SP - 167
EP - 191
SN - 1598-0685
AB - The purpose of this study was to provide a pragmatic analysis of ni-zhidao-ma (NZDM) ‘do you know’ as a pragmatic marker (PM) in Chinese. Theoretically, following Dunn (1990) and Lee (1992), we assume that all pragmatic uses or functions of a PM share a basic sense (or meaning) and that they are contextually derived from the basic sense. We propose that the basic sense of the PM NZDM is that the speaker expects the addressee to know something. Then we demonstrate how pragmatic functions of the PM can be pragmatically derived from the basic sense and the context. Pragmatic functions analyzed include Attention-getting, Topic-initiating, Hedge, Agreement- seeking, Criticism-enhancing, and Self-repair. Since NZDM can be used to ask a polarity question, we also closely looked at the distinction between the PM NZDM and the grammatical NZDM. This was done by contrasting their syntactic, semantic, phonological, and pragmatic properties.
KW - pragmatic marker;basic sense;contextual;pragmatic functions;inference
DO - 10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167
ER -
Jiang Xia and Lee Han-gyu. (2025). On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese. Cross-Cultural Studies, 74, 167-191.
Jiang Xia and Lee Han-gyu. 2025, "On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese", Cross-Cultural Studies, vol.74, pp.167-191. Available from: doi:10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167
Jiang Xia, Lee Han-gyu "On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese" Cross-Cultural Studies 74 pp.167-191 (2025) : 167.
Jiang Xia, Lee Han-gyu. On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese. 2025; 74 167-191. Available from: doi:10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167
Jiang Xia and Lee Han-gyu. "On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese" Cross-Cultural Studies 74(2025) : 167-191.doi: 10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167
Jiang Xia; Lee Han-gyu. On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese. Cross-Cultural Studies, 74, 167-191. doi: 10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167
Jiang Xia; Lee Han-gyu. On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese. Cross-Cultural Studies. 2025; 74 167-191. doi: 10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167
Jiang Xia, Lee Han-gyu. On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese. 2025; 74 167-191. Available from: doi:10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167
Jiang Xia and Lee Han-gyu. "On the Pragmatic Marker Ni-ZhiDao-Ma ‘Do You Know?’ in Mandarin Chinese" Cross-Cultural Studies 74(2025) : 167-191.doi: 10.21049/ccs.2025.74..167
