Preferred Argument Structure in Mandarin Child-directed Speech

Abstract

指涉詞的選用策略反應了語法與言談間的重要連結。Du Bois (1987)所提出的「首選論元結構」闡明了言談模式與語法形式間的關係。首選論元結構與言談中的信息流有關，並涉及信息流與動詞之主要論元的互動。其重要論點可以四個制約表示：唯一詞彙論元制約、唯一新論元制約、非詞彙A（及物子句之主詞）制約、舊信息A制約。首選論元結構已於許多不同語言中測試驗證。 首選論元結構不僅已在成人對話中驗證，也在幼童語言中驗證。然而，首選論元結構卻幾乎未曾在幼童導向語言中作探討。幼童所接觸的語言是幼童導向語言而非成人對話的語言。要能適當地瞭解幼童的語言經驗就必須對成人的幼童導向語言作有系統性且實證性的研究，才能進而對幼童語言中的現象及模式有更完整的解釋。因此，本研究旨在測試首選論元結構之理論是否可在漢語幼童導向語言中獲得證實。 本研究的目的有兩方面。第一，本研究試圖檢視是否首選論元結構會呈現於漢語的幼童導向語言中，同時也檢視Chui (1992)和Tao and Thompson (1994)所觀察到的語言特別現象是否也會呈現其中。第二個目標則是希望能進一步擴充首選論元結構的理論架構來分析幼童導向語言。除了首選論元結構所強調的詞彙形式之外，本研究將進一步將語料以三種形式類別來分析，也就是詞彙、代名詞及零詞。由此希望能對幼童導向語言中這三種形式論元的分布情形有更多的瞭解。另外，在語用層面上除了新信息之外，也進一步加入Allen(2000)所提出的其他的語用因素（不在場、問題、對比、語境中的辨別、言談中的辨別、不具生命、第三人）。把這些語用因素加入考量能讓我們瞭解這些不同的語用因素如何影響論元結構的語用層面。本計畫希望能對漢語幼童導向語言中語法角色、語用因素及論元形式的關係做更完整的研究與探討。

It has been shown that referential strategies constitute a key link between grammar and discourse in adult language. Du Bois (1987) formulated ‘Preferred Argument Structure’, which illuminates the relationship between discourse patterns and grammatical forms. Preferred Augment Structure concerns information flow in discourse and its interaction with the primary noun arguments associated with verb phrases: A, O and S. The central notions of Preferred Argument Structure can be expressed in the form of four constraints: the One Lexical Argument Constraint, the One New Argument Constraint, the Non-lexical A Constraint, and the Given A Constraint. The patterns of Preferred Argument Structure have been documented in a wide array of languages, both of the ergative-absolutive and of the nominative-accusative type. While the patterns of Preferred Argument Structure have been observed in both adult conversation and child language, little has been done to investigate child-directed speech in terms of Preferred Argument Structure. Children are exposed to child-directed speech rather than adult conversation. An adequate understanding of children’s experience of language will require systematic empirical investigations of the language used by adults in conversation with young children. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the theory of Preferred Argument Structure in Mandarin child-directed speech. The aim of this study is twofold. First, this study attempts to examine whether Preferred Argument Structure is characteristic of Mandarin child-directed speech. In addition, analysis will also be conducted to examine whether the language specific phenomena reported in Chui (1992), and Tao and Thompson (1994) will also be observed in Mandarin child-directed speech. The second goal of this study is to analyze Mandarin child-directed speech with a framework which is beyond the one presented in Preferred Argument of Structure. That is, instead of focusing on lexical mentions, the data will be further analyzed in terms of a three-way classification system (i.e., null, pronominal, and nominal). In addition, the pragmatic dimension analyzed will further include not just newness of information but also other informativeness features proposed by Allen (2000) (i.e., absence, query, contrast, differentiation in context, differentiation in discourse, inanimacy, and third person). It is hoped that this study can provide a more complete picture of the relationship between grammatical roles, pragmatic features and argument forms in Mandarin child-directed speech.