命题极性与命题交互:英汉附加问句结构差异的句法–语用研究

Polarity or proposition interaction:A syntactic-pragmatic study of structural differences between English and Mandarin tag questions

本文从句法-语用层面探究英、汉语典型附加问句的结构差异。研究发现,英汉典型附加问句的差异主要源自两者疑问尾句提问对象的差异。英语典型附加问句针对命题极性进行提问,聚焦的是命题内部,其疑问尾句与陈述小句在形式上的依附关系较强,因此,英语附加问句可采用动词删略结构进行分析。汉语典型附加问句则针对命题重合关系提问,聚焦小句命题与命题外信息的交互关系,其疑问尾句与陈述小句在形式上彼此独立,因此应采用命题交互结构对其进行分析。

This study investigates the structural differences between English and Mandarin tag questions from a syntax-pragmatics interface perspective.Furthermore,it proposes that the major distinctions originate from the targets of the interrogative tags.In particular,English dependent tag questions inquire about the polarity of a proposition,focusing on its internal structure.Consequently,the form of such tags depends on the declarative clauses.Accordingly,this paper proposes a VP ellipsis analysis for English tags.By contrast,Mandarin tag questions inquire about the coincidence relation between two propositions,focusing on the interactional relation between the proposition and background information.As a result,the forms of these tags are independent of declarative clauses.A propositional interactional structure is proposed for Mandarin tags.