Representing the cognitive construal of Chinese first-person singular reference in discourse

This study aims to explore the Chinese first-person singular reference in discourse, and exhibit the complexity of its usage. Default Semantics is applied in the construal of Chinese first-person singular reference phenomenon taken as an act of communication. After analyzing the examples elicited from the Lancaster Chinese Corpus, we find that the discourse meanings of Chinese first-person singular pronoun wǒ are not limited to self-reference, a variety of additional or non-deictic meanings are conveyed by it in different contexts, and many non-deictic expressions can also be employed to convey self-referential meanings. The construal of Chinese first-person singular reference discourse meaning results from the interaction of pragmatics with grammar and semantics. Thus, the interface between semantics and pragmatics should be rethought with respect to specific language interpretation.
Source: Language Sciences - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research