摘要
现代汉语"吗"问句可以用于中立性语境以及有倾向性的语境,而"A不A"问句只适用于中立性语境。本文为这两类问句提供了详细的语义分析,解释了两者对语境要求的差异性。我们认为"吗"问句和"A不A"问句都表达了Hamblin(1973)式的命题集合,即传统的疑问意义。"A不A"问句额外还表达了一层陈述含义,陈述的内容是命题集合中所有命题的析取式。这层陈述含义是由"A不A"问句的句法特征以及语调特征推导而来。这层陈述含义表明,说话人认为当前语境相对于任何一个可能答案来说都是中立的。因此,"A不A"问句不适合用于非中立语境;"吗"问句的语义则不包含陈述性的内容,可以出现在中立或者非中立语境中。
This study provides a semantic account for two groups of questions in Chinese: ma questions, which are marked by the sentence-final particle ma, and A-not-A questions, which generally end with a low boundary tone. Chinese ma questions are used in both neutral and biased contexts, whereas A-not-A questions are only felicitous in neutral contexts. We account for the different contextual requirements imposed by the two types of questions by proposing that Hamblin alternatives are used in different ways in these two questions. Ma questions and A-not-A questions both indicate a Hamblin-set of propositions. A-not-A questions additionally involve an assertion meaning, where the content of the assertion is the disjunction of all the propositions in the Hamblin-set. This assertion is derived compositionally from the syntactic and prosodic features of A-not-A questions. This assertion of the disjunction indicates the speaker's claim that the context is neutral regarding any possible answer, and therefore A-not-A questions are infelicitous in a biased context. In contrast, ma questions lack this assertion meaning and can occur in both biased and neutral contexts.
引文
Bartels,Christine.1997.Towards a compositional interpretation of English statement and question intonation:Ph.D.diss.,University of Massachusetts,Amherst.
Biezma,Maria.2009.Alternative vs.polar questions:The cornering effect.In Ed Cormany,Satoshi Ito,and David Lutz,eds.,Proceedings of Semantics and Linguistic Theory 19.Pp.37-54.
Biezma,Maria and Kyle Rawlins.2012.Responding to alternative and polar questions.Linguistics and Philosophy 35,5:361-406.
Büring,Daniel and Christine Gunlogson.2000.Aren't positive and negative polar questions the same?Ms.,UCLA/UCSC.https://urresearch.rochester.edu/institutional PublicationPublicView.action?institutional Item Id=1347[accessed 12,Oct.2018]
Chierchia,Gennaro and Sally McConnell-Ginet.1990.Meaning and Grammar:An Introduction to Semantics.Cambridge,MA:The MIT Press.
Cinque,Guglielmo.1999.Adverbs and Functional Heads:A Cross-linguistic Perspective.New York:Oxford University Press.
Cowart,Wayne.1997.Experimental Syntax:Applying Objective Methods to Sentence Judgments.Thousand Oaks,CA:Sage.
Dong,Hongyuan(董红源).2009.Issues in the semantics of Mandarin questions.Ph.D.diss.,Cornell University,Ithaca,NY.
Frege,Gottlob.1952.On sense and reference.In Peter T.Geach and Max Black,eds.,The Philosophical Writings of Gottlob Frege.Oxford:Basil Blackwell.Pp.56-78.Translated from:1892.ber Sinn und Bedeutung.Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik 100,25-50.
Gunlogson,Christine.2003.True to Form:Rising and Falling Declaratives as Questions in English.New York:Routledge.
Guo,Rui(郭锐).2000.Certitude and reply pattern of MA sentences.Chinese Teaching in the World2:13-23.[2000,“吗”字句的确信度和回答方式。《世界汉语教学》第2期,13-23页。]
Hamblin,Charles.1973.Questions in Montague grammar.Foundations of Language 10,41-53.
Han,Chung Hye.1998.The structure and interpretation of imperatives:Mood and force in universal grammar.Ph.D.diss.,University of Pennsylvania,Philadelphia,PA.
Hara,Yurie.2014.Semantics and pragmatics of Cantonese polar questions:An inquisitive approach.In Proceedings of 28th Pacific Asia Conference on Language,Information and Computation.Pp.605-14.
Hara,Yurie and Christopher Davis.2013.Darou as a deictic context shifter.In Kazuko Yatsushiro and Uli Sauerland,eds.,Proceedings of Formal Approaches to Japanese Linguistics 6(FAJL 6),MITWorking Papers in Linguistics 66.Pp.41-56.
Hara,Yurie,Shigeto Kawahara,and Yuli Feng(冯予力).2014.The prosody of enhanced bias in Mandarin and Japanese negative questions.Lingua 150,92-116.
Hoji,Hajime.2015.Language Faculty Science.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Hu,Fang(胡方).2005.A phonetic study of prosody of Wh-words in Standard Chinese.Studies of the Chinese Language 3:269-78.[2005,普通话疑问词韵律的语音学分析。《中国语文》第3期,269-78页。]
Hu,Jianhua(胡建华).2002.Prominence and locality in grammar:The syntax and semantics of whquestions and reflexives.Ph.D.diss.,City University of Hong Kong.
Hu,Jianhua(胡建华).2008.Interrogative operator A-not-A and the scope of quantified adverbs.Research and Explorations in Grammar 14.Beijing:The Commercial Press.Pp.54-60.[2008,A-不-A疑问算子与量化副词的辖域。《语法研究与探索(十四)》。北京:商务印书馆。54-60页。]
Huang,C.-T.James(黄正德).1991.Modularity and Chinese A-not-A questions.In Carol Georgopolous and Robert Ishihara,eds.,Interdisciplinary Approaches to Language.Dordrecht:Kluwer.Pp.305-22.
K?nig,Ekkehard and Peter Siemund.2007.Speech act distinctions in grammar.In Timothy Shopen,ed.,Language Typology and Syntactic Description I:Clause Structure.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.Pp.276-324.
Lee,Ok Joo.2005.The Prosody of questions in Beijing Mandarin.Ph.D.diss.,Ohio State University,Columbus,OH.
Lewis,David.1970.General semantics.Synthese 22,18-67.
Li,Charles N.(李讷)and Sandra A.Thompson(汤仙笛).1981.Mandarin Chinese:A Functional Reference Grammar.Berkeley,CA:University of California Press.
Li,Xiaojun(李小军).2010.A diachronic study of the interrogative focus.Studies of the Chinese Language 6:496-501.[2010,有关疑问域的一点历时思考。《中国语文》第6期,496-501页。]
Lin,Maocan(林茂灿).2006.Interrogative vs.declarative and the boundary tone in Standard Chinese.Studies of the Chinese Language 4:364-76.[2006,疑问和陈述语气与边界调。《中国语文》第4期,364-76页。]
Liu,Fang(刘芳)and Yi Xu(许毅).2005.Parallel encoding of focus and interrogative meaning in Mandarin intonation.Phonetica 72,70-87.
Lü,Shuxiang(吕叔湘).1982[1942].An Outline of Chinese Grammar.[1982[1942],《中国文法要略》。北京:商务印书馆。].1992
Lü,Shuxiang(吕叔湘).Studying grammar through comparisons.Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies 2:4-18.[1992,通过对比研究语法。《语言教学与研究》第2期,4-18页。]
Peng,Shu-hui(彭淑惠),Marjorie K.M.Chan(陈洁雯),Chiu-yu Tseng(郑秋豫),Tsan Huang(黄灿),Ok Joo Lee,and Mary Beckman.2005.Towards a Pan-Mandarin system for prosodic transcription.In Sun-Ah Jun,ed.,Prosodic Typology:The Phonology of Intonation and Phrasing.Oxford University Press.Pp.230-70.
Potts,Christopher.2005.The Logic of Conventional Implicatures.Oxford:Oxford University Press.
Rizzi,Luigi.1997.The fine structure of the left periphery.In Liliane Haegeman,ed.,Elements of Grammar.Dordrecht:Kluwer.Pp.281-337.
Roelofsen,Floris and Sam van Gool.2010.Disjunctive questions,intonation and highlighting.In Maria Aloni,Harald Bastiaanse,Titiku de Jager,and Katrin Schulz,eds.,Logic,Language,and Meaning:Selected Papers from the 17th Amsterdam Colloquium.Berlin/Heidelberg:Springer.Pp.384-94.
Rooth,Mats E.1992.A theory of focus interpretation.Natural Language Semantics 1,75-116.
van Rooy,Robert and Marie Safarova.2003.On polar questions.In Robert B.Young and Yuping Zhou,eds.,Semantics and Linguistic Theory 13.Cornell University,Ithaca,NY.Pp.292-309.
Sadock,Jerrold M.and Arnold M.Zwicky.1985.Speech act distinctions in syntax.In Timothy Shopen,ed.,Language Typology and Syntactic Description.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.Pp.155-96.
Schack,Katrina.2000.Comparison of intonation patterns in Mandarin and English for a particular speaker.In University of Rochester Working Papers in the Language Sciences 1.Pp.24-55.
Schütze,Carson T.1996.The Empirical Base of Linguistics:Grammaticality Judgments and Linguistic Methodology.Chicago:University of Chicago Press.
Searle,John.1965.What is a speech act?In Maurice Black,ed.,Philosophy in America.London:Allen and Unwin.Pp.221-39.
Searle,John.1991.Indirect speech acts.In Steven Davis,ed.,Pragmatics:A Reader.Oxford University Press.Pp.265-77.
Shao,Jingmin(邵敬敏).1996.A Study on the Interrogative Sentences in Contemporary Chinese.Shanghai:East China Normal University Press.[1996,《现代汉语疑问句研究》。上海:华东师范大学出版社。]
Shen,Jiong(沈炯).1985.The pitch range of tone and intonation in Beijing Mandarin.In Tao Lin,Lijia Wang,et al.,eds.,Phonetic Experiments on Beijing Dialect.Beijing:Peking University Press.Pp.73-130.[1985,北京话声调的音域和语调。《北京语音实验录》,林焘、王理嘉等,北京:北京大学出版社,73-130页。]
Shen,Xiao-nan(沈晓楠).1990.The Prosody of Mandarin Chinese.Berkeley,CA:University of California Press.
Stalnaker,Robert.1978.Assertion.Syntax and Semantics 9,315-32.
Xiong,Ziyu(熊子瑜)and Maocan Lin(林茂灿).2003.Interrogative and non-interrogative uses of the modal particle“ma0”.In Proceedings of the 7th National Conference on Man-Machine Speech Communication(NCMMSC7).Pp.234-46.[2003,语气词“ma0”的疑问用法和非疑问用法。《第七届全国人机语音通讯学术会议(NCMMSC7)会议论文集》。234-46页。]
Xu,Jie(徐杰)and Yuan Tian(田源).2013.A unified account for“A-not-AB”and“AB-not-A”questions and some related syntactic issues.Contemporary Linguistics 4:379-92.[2013,“A不AB”与“AB不A”两种反复问句的统一处理及相关的句法问题。《当代语言学》第4期,379-92页。]
Yan,Jinting(阎锦婷),Ping Wang(王萍),and Feng Shi(石锋).2014.Undulating scale of the intonation of yes-no questions in Putonghua.In Proceedings of the 11th Phonetic Conference of China.Pp.261-7.[2014,普通话是非问句语调的起伏度。《第十一届中国语音学学术会议论文集》。261-7页。]
Yuan,Yulin(袁毓林).1993.Alternative questions and related typological parameters.Studies of the Chinese Language 2:103-11.[1993,正反问句及相关的类型学参项。《中国语文》第2期,103-11页。]
Zhang,Bojiang(张伯江).1997.On the functions of interrogative sentences.Studies of the Chinese Language 2:104-10.[1997,疑问句功能琐议。《中国语文》第2期,104-10页。]
(1)吕叔湘(1992)也对这两类问句的区别做过分析, 但不是从前文语境角度, 而是从说话人倾向性的角度出发, 指出“吗”问句可以表示说话人对答案的倾向性, 而“A不A”问句的说话人则对答案没有倾向。但吕叔湘(1982 [1942]:294)以及邵敬敏(1996:121)也都指出, “A不A”问句也可以表示说话人对答案的倾向, 比如“这价码要是传出去, 我这穴头还当不当?”表达了对否定答案的倾向。据此, 我们认为, 将“吗”问句和“A不A”问句的区别归纳为前者可以表达说话人倾向而后者不可, 是有失偏颇的, 还是从语境角度归纳两类问句的区别更合适。本文致力于解释“吗”问句和“A不A”问句对前文语境要求的差异。
(2)有时, 话语参与者A和B会在某个问题上意见相左, 比如A公开表示相信p, 而B则公开相信否定命题～p。根据(8)的定义, 此时p和～p都有争议性。从(9)中可以看到, Gunlogson(2003)不认为这样的语境是中立的。本文第4节将拓展(9)的定义, 指出当p和W-p都有争议性时, 整个语境也是中立的。
(3)(11)中“吗”问句的语调不同于“吗”问句在中立语境中的语调。详见2.2节。
(4)实验中, 少数受试因为未完全理解实验书面说明“请判断下面的句子在语境中的自然程度”而做出不符合预期的判断。例如两位受试多次判断中立语境中的“吗”问句和“A不A”问句不自然, 如受试认为“你的朋友和小雷合作过一段时间。你向他询问: 小雷性格好不好?”不自然。后续访谈显示, 两位受试认为询问“小雷性格好不好”在汉语文化中显得过于直接和不礼貌, 因此不自然。这两位受试也多次判断非中立语境中的“A不A”问句为自然, 这可能是由于非中立语境需要较多信息铺垫, 因此疑问句的出现没那么突兀和直接。也就是说, 两位受试主要是从文化、 礼貌、 是否突兀的角度观察疑问句的自然度, 并未关注到(本实验需要受试判断的)疑问倾向性与语境之间是否冲突。 根据Hoji(2015)的看法, 实验者关注的并不是所有受试的表现, 而是那些确定已理解实验要求的可靠受试的表现。为了得到这些可靠受试的数据, 一个严谨的语感实验应该包括实验前对受试进行训练(确保受试理解实验说明)、 实验中的主要实验(main-experiment)、 实验后的次要实验(sub-experiment, 用于测试主要实验中表现不符合预期的受试是否是因为不理解实验要求而做出反常判断)、 隔一段时间以后对同样受试进行重复实验等多个环节。通过进行多次受试分类(informant classification), 剔除未理解实验要求的受试数据, 才能得到最科学的实验结果。我们将在未来再次重复本实验, 并加入实验前训练、 实验后次要实验等环节, 进行受试分类, 以验证本实验的信效度和可重复性。感谢匿名评审专家为实验设计提出的宝贵意见。
(5)这种用疑问的形式表达请求的行为一般称为“间接言语行为”(indirect speech acts, Searle 1991), 即语言形式不直接传递意图, 与“直接言语行为”(direct speech acts)相对。
(6)袁毓林(1993)、 郭锐(2000)等早就提出过类似看法, 认为不带副词和重音的简单“吗”问句只表示询问, “吗”问句的其他含义(例如质疑义等)都是由语境和其他成分赋予。
(7)算子Q2可以在语音上实现, 也可以以零语音形式出现。换句话说, 无论“A不A”问句中“呢”是否出现, 都认为“A不A”问句中存在一个疑问算子Q2, 携带了疑问的语力。目前学界对于“呢”的语义尚未达成共识, 为了简化问题, 本文仅仅把“呢”当成一个“A不A”问句(以及选择问句、 特指问句)的疑问语力标记, “呢”完全可能还有其他含义(例如提醒注意等)。
(8)关于“A不A”问句的句法生成过程存在多种分析方法, 可参见Hu(2002), 胡建华(2008), 徐杰、 田源(2013)等。
(9)根据“自主音段-节律”理论(autosegmental-metrical theory), “边界调”(boundary tone)指的是出现于语调短语末尾和起头音节的语调。边界调能够区分不同的句子语力, 例如汉语表达陈述语力和表达疑问语力的句子的边界调不一样(林茂灿 2006)。
(10)关于“吗”问句的具体语音特征, 可参见熊子瑜、 林茂灿(2003), Lee(2005), 阎锦婷、 王萍、 石锋(2014)等。
(11)尽管不包含“呢”的“A不A”问句是以L%结束的, 但包含“呢”的“A不A”问句有时以H%结束。我们的语感是, 比起使用不带“呢”、 以L%结束的“A不A”问句, 说话人使用包含“呢”、 以H%结束的“A不A”问句时更加急于知道答案。这大概就是为何部分研究者认为“呢”的语义是加强疑问语力。我们认为这一加强疑问的作用并不一定是“呢”贡献的, 也有可能是H%语调贡献的。如Bartels(1997)、 Hara和Davis(2013)所分析的, H%调表明说话人认为应该由对方解决目前的问题。因此, 当“A不A”问句携带“呢”以H%结尾时, 说话人听上去更加急于寻找答案。包含“呢”的“A不A”问句的语调将留作后续研究。本文也不关注携带“呢”与不携带“呢”的“A不A”问句的语义区别。
