语篇语义研究的前沿理论:当前待议问题

Question under discussion:The state-of-art studies in discourse semantics

为了促进人们对语篇语义、信息结构前沿的了解,介绍当前待议问题(Question under discussion, QUD)的理论要点,并利用典例阐释其在理论研究和实证研究上的运用方法,最后结合QUD的优势和不足讨论其在汉语中运用的广泛空间。研究发现:首先,QUD与选项语义学、询问语义学相结合,能够消解受语境限制选项集模糊的问题,起到增强理论解释力、拓展理论解释范围的效果;其次,QUD为实验研究和自然语言处理提供了新工具,相关研究揭示了语篇信息结构对语言习得的作用,推动了语篇信息结构层面语料标注的发展;最后,QUD能够为汉语现象提供新的解决思路,促进人们挖掘语言事实背后所蕴含的深刻道理。

To promote the understanding of the frontiers of discourse semantics and information structure,this paper introduces key elements of question under discussion(QUD),and expounds its application in theoretical research and empirical research with canonical examples.It then discusses the strengths and weaknesses of QUD as well as its high potential of application in Chinese.The study finds that,first,QUD,when combined with alternative semantics and inquisitive semantics,can resolve the issue of vague contextually-constrained alternatives to enhance explanatory power and expand the scope of research;second,QUD provides new tools for experimental and natural language processing(NLP)research,revealing the role of information structure in language acquisition and promoting the development of corpus annotation at the level of information structure;finally,QUD can offer new solutions to Chinese linguistic phenomena,prompting people's uncovering profound truths behind linguistic facts.