| Abstract: | 漢語有省略論元的特徵。在漢語中若指涉對象可從語境中瞭解，外顯指涉詞通常可以省略(Huang, 1994, 2000; Li & Thompson, 1981, Wang et al., 1992)。也就是說，漢語說話者指涉詞的選擇有言談上的動機。過去的研究顯示成人說話者對使用不同指涉詞的言談語用因素是敏感的(Chafe, 1994; Du Bois, 1985, 1987; Givon, 1983; Gundel, Hedberg & Zacharski, 1993; Kumpf, 1992)。在語言習得研究中，語法和言談常常被當作是分開的、沒有任何顯著互動的領域。由於以言談語用的方式來解釋成人語言中指涉詞的使用已獲的很好的研究成果，最近有一些研究也用此方式來研究幼童指涉詞的使用。研究顯示幼童的指涉詞選擇也受語用原則的影響(Allen, 2000; Clancy, 1993; 1997; Guerriero, Oshima-Takane & Kuriyama, 2006; Narasimhan, Budwig & Murty, 2005; Serratrice, 2005)。如果漢語可以省略指涉詞，一個有趣的問題是：為什麼有時候當指涉對象清楚明瞭時幼童和其父母在對話中仍會使用外顯指涉詞？通常指涉說話者及聽話者的指涉詞是最易被省略的，因為被省略的指涉詞很容易能從互動語境中瞭解。由於語境就能使內隱的第二人稱指涉詞明確化，因此本研究的目的是要探討促使幼童和其父母使用外顯第二人稱指涉詞的因素。從語用的觀點，本研究將分析幼童的第二人稱指涉詞是否與特定的溝通意圖或語用功能有關。同時如Guerriero et al. (2006) 所指出，父母的語言輸入也可能影響幼童指涉詞的使用。因此本研究也將分析父母言談中第二人稱指涉詞的使用情形。
It is well-known that Mandarin permits omitted arguments. In Mandarin, overt reference forms can be omitted provided that the referent can be understood from the context (Huang, 1994, 2000; Li & Thompson, 1981, Wang et al., 1992). In other words, Mandarin speakers’ referential choices may be discourse-motivated. Previous studies have indicated that adult speakers show sensitivity to discourse-pragmatic factors presumed to underlie the differential use of referring expressions in discourse (Chafe, 1994; Du Bois, 1985, 1987; Givon, 1983; Gundel, Hedberg & Zacharski, 1993; Kumpf, 1992). In language acquisition research, grammar and discourse are frequently treated as separate domains that do not interact in any significant way. Given the success of the discourse-pragmatic approach in explaining the distribution of referring expressions in adult language, recently a few studies have investigated the child’s referential choice from this use-oriented perspective. It has been reported that the child’s referential choice can also be explained by pragmatic principles (Allen, 2000; Clancy, 1993; 1997; Guerriero, Oshima-Takane & Kuriyama, 2006; Narasimhan, Budwig & Murty, 2005; Serratrice, 2005). If Mandarin permits omitted reference forms, an interesting question would be why Mandarin-speaking children and parents sometimes do supply overt reference when the referent is understood. It is commonly argued that reference forms for referring to the speaker and the addressee are most readily omitted because they are easily retrievable from the physical interactional context (Oh, 2007). Given the availability of discourse context to disambiguate implicit reference to the addressee, the purpose of this study is to investigate what might provide the impetus for Mandarin-speaking children and their parents to attempt overt reference to the addressee. From a pragmatic perspective, we attempt to investigate whether children’s second person reference forms are associated with particular communicative intents or pragmatic functions. Furthermore, as suggested by Guerriero, et al. (2006), parental input may also influence children’s referential choice. Thus, the patterns of the parents’ use of second person reference will also be examined. |
