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The Library will look into your claim and consider taking remedial action upon receipt of the written requests. Pao Yue-kong Library, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong http://www.lib.polyu.edu.hk THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies The English Equivalents of Cantonese Sentence-final Particles: A Contrastive Analysis by John C. Wakefield A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July, 2010 ii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it reproduces no material previously published or written, nor material that has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. ____________________________________ (Signed) __________John C. Wakefield____________ (Name of student) iii For Mona and Angie iv Abstract Cantonese has a lexical tone system that severely restricts its ability to manipulate pitch. As a result, many of the speaker-oriented discourse meanings that are expressed through intonation in languages such as English are expressed in the form of sentence-final particles (SFPs) in Cantonese. Although this is widely known and accepted by linguists, apparently no study to date has made a systematic attempt to discover whether any of the more than 30 Cantonese SFPs have English intonational equivalents, and if so, what those equivalents are. To work towards filling this research gap, this study examines the English intonational equivalents of four Cantonese SFPs that divide into the following two pairs: particles of obviousness: lo1 and aa1maa3; question particles: me1 and aa4. The English equivalent form of each of the four SFPs of this study is identified by examining the pitch contours of Cantonese-to-English audio translations, provided by Cantonese/English native-bilingual participants. A definition using Wierzbicka‘s (1996) natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) is proposed for each SFP, which is hypothesized to apply equally to its English intonational counterpart. Following proposals of Hirst‘s (1983a) regarding ―emphatic intonation,‖ these pitch contours are proposed to be floating tones that exist as lexical entries in the minds of native-English speakers. Syntactic positions are proposed for the SFPs and their English equivalents adopting Rizzi‘s (1997) split-CP hypothesis. The findings of this study have far reaching implications regarding the descriptions and classifications of intonation, as well as regarding the classifications of the various forms of suprasegmentals. This study used segmental discourse v markers to discover their suprasegmental counterparts in English, exploiting a unique window through which to examine the forms and meanings of English discourse intonation, which is one of the least understood and most difficult to study aspects of English. This research has arguably provided the strongest and clearest evidence to date regarding the forms and meanings of the particular forms of English intonation with which it deals. vi Acknowledgements The following people have helped me in one way or another to get to where I am today. Whether this fills their hearts with pride or regret, only they know. Their names and actions are listed here in order of appearance. Rather than tying me to the sofa facing the TV, my parents took the time and made the effort to ensure that I felt loved. This instilled in me enough self confidence to believe that I can accomplish just about anything if I try hard enough. They also gave me the best education they could afford. My wife, Mona, and daughter, Angie, were beyond understanding. They went out of their way to let me know it was okay to ignore them on weekends and holidays. They knew I had no choice and didn‘t want me to feel bad. I dedicate this thesis to them, knowing that doing so falls far short of making up for their support. I thank Cliff Goddard for designing the fascinating and insightful course Cross Cultural Communication, which I took as an MA student and which introduced me to the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, contributing to this thesis in an obvious way. When I met Cliff in person at a conference in Sydney, I discovered that his enthusiasm as a linguist is contagious and that he has one of those rare demeanors that are so pleasant, down-to-earth, and approachable, that he actually succeeds at making students believe there is no such thing as a stupid question or comment. Cliff also gave excellent, detailed comments on my thesis in his role as one of my examiners, particularly regarding the wording and format of the NSM explications. Liliane Haegeman and Nick Reid both deserve special thanks for believing in me enough to write letters of recommendation for me, which was one of the important factors that helped me get my Ph.D. scholarship. Liliane‘s rare ability to explain Chomsky‘s theories clearly and succinctly has benefitted me a great deal, as vii it has most people who have studied generative syntax. Nick was an enthusiastic and inspirational teacher. I am indebted to Stephen Matthews and Virginia Yip, who were kind enough to talk to me in detail about my options for doing a doctorate in Hong Kong. They gave me excellent advice and introduced me to Robert Bauer, who suggested I apply for a Ph.D. scholarship at HK PolyU, and who went the extra mile, contacting me months later to let me know that the application period was about to begin—few people are that thoughtful. I additionally thank Virginia for her helpful, detailed comments on my thesis in her role as one of my examiners. I thank my supervisor, Sze-Wing Tang, who one day casually suggested it might be interesting to see how the meanings of sentence-final particles are expressed in English. In addition to sparking the idea that got this research going, he of course gave me a great deal of help with my numerous questions about sentence-final particles. He also has an excellent eye for detail, helping me end up with a more polished final draft than I would have had without his help. My co-supervisor, Dingxu Shi, also gave invaluable input, teaching me much, and offering advice that kept me on the right track. His ability to immediately understand my questions and instantly offer relevant feedback and suggestions never failed to impress me. K. K. Luke‘s help was invaluable. Not only did he make me copies of the audio corpus and annotated text files, he (along with Angel Chan, who I also thank) took the time to show me how to use the concordance to search for tokens of the SFPs. It would have been extremely difficult to carry out this study without these tools. Audrey Li may not remember because it probably seemed like a small thing to her, but she deserves special thanks for giving me useful advice regarding my topic at a critical point in my research. Without that, I would have gone off in the wrong direction all together and fallen into a sinkhole. viii Brian Holton kept me grounded after hours with intoxicating liquids laced with well-executed deliveries of his poetic wisdom. Severin Hornung got my mind going again with large quantities of coffee and stimulating discussions about the sad state of the world. Danny Fung, a close and devoted friend, told me entertaining stories and relentlessly debated nonsense with me in a highly enjoyable fashion. I am truly grateful to these three men for providing me with well needed diversions from the floating tones that have been fluttering around in my cranium over the past few years. Daniel Hirst deserves a huge thank you for the comments he gave me, and especially for boosting my confidence with positive and useful feedback about my research. As good as anyone may feel about their own research there is always a sense of worry at the back of one‘s mind that everyone else will consider it insignificant, meaningless, unconvincing, or all of the above. Daniel‘s strong endorsement meant a lot and gave me a psychological boost that so many lonely Ph.D. students need so badly but rarely get. Despite his response, I‘m still not convinced that my research will revolutionize our lives—I merely believe it will make the world a better place. Jock Wong gave helpful comments on my explications, for which I am very grateful. Joanna Sio helpfully and patiently answered numerous questions of mine. Lian Hee Wee asked some critical questions that were very helpful in forcing me to clarify some of my arguments. I am truly indebted to the native-bilingual informants, without whom this research would never have been possible.