汉语的“哈”与英语的Eh

A Comparative Study of Chinese Ha(哈) and English Eh

本文重点研究汉语普通话的句末语气词"哈"和加拿大英语的句末语气词eh。通过跨语言比较,描述二者的语音、语法、语义和语用特点,集中探讨其主要共同点和共性规律:1."哈"和eh从方言进入全民族共同语;2."哈"和eh表示一些共性意义,即,二者在疑问句中凸显疑点,在感叹句中强调意外,在陈述句中加强确认,在祈使句中强化平和口气等;3."哈"和eh表达若干相同功用,即,二者从篇章衔接的角度看是语篇标记;从语气情态看是强化标记,从交际功能角度看是礼貌标记等。

This paper focuses on Chinese ha （哈） and Canadian English eh, both of which are sentence - final particles. Through a comparison of Chinese ha（哈） with Canadian English eh, the paper first describes the phonetic, grammatical, semantic and pragmatic features of the two particles, then, it explores in detail their major characteristics and usage rules in common. The findings include： 1. ha （哈）and eh, originally as particles of particular dialects, both found their way into their national standard languages ; 2. both ha （哈） and eh share some meanings in particular sentences： both highlight relevant questions if found in interrogative sentences; both stress something surprising or unexpected when used in exclamatory sentences ; both emphatically confirm something or some action if found in declarative sentences ; both reinforce a mild tone when employed in imperative sentences ; 3. both ha （哈）and eh represent a number of functions： from the angle of textual cohesion they both act as discourse markers; from the perspective of the mood and modality both serve as reinforcement markers; from the viewpoint of communicative function both function as politeness markers.