汉语反问句加强“施为用意”浅析

The Boosted Illocutionary Force of Chinese Rhetorical Questions

本文在言语行为理论的框架内,以礼貌程度等级为“试纸”对汉语反问句加强其所传达的施为用意力度的语用现象进行了探讨,认为反问句用于表和谐类施为用意时起正向加强作用,表现为礼貌程度语用等级的提升;而用于表竞争类和冲突类施为用意时起反向强化作用,表现为礼貌程度语用级别的降低。本研究思路也可以推广到英汉语言中的祈使句、感叹句、双重否定句等其他强调句式的相关研究中去。

This paper intends to shed light on illocutionary force that is boosted by Chinese rhetorical questions. Notably, the degree of politeness serves as ＂test paper＂ to examine the boosting of illocutionary force that is being conveyed via rhetorical questions. The findings demonstrate, undoubtedly, that the rhetorical question is a linguistic device that tends to boost illocutionary force. On the one hand, it boosts convivial illocutionary force positively, which can be examined by the increasing degree of politeness. On the other hand, when it is used to express competitive and conflictive illocutionary acts, it is observed to boost the illocutionary force negatively in the sense that it mitigates politeness scales. The research approach applied in this study can be extended to investigations on imperatives, exclamations and negation in both English and Chinese language.