A Study On Personal Referential Behaviors In Chinese Conversational Discourse

Many researchers have conducted comprehensive studies on reference to persons,but most of them tend to focus on its linguistic mode.In fact,conducting a referential behavior involves not only linguistic expressions but also other non-linguistic modes,like gestures.Therefore,this study attempts to explore how a speaker uses linguistic mode and gestural mode together to refer to people in Chinese naturally occurring conversation.Based on six interviews of A Date with Luyu,persons in personal referential behaviors are divided into present persons(the speaker,the addressee,the bystander and multiple persons),absent persons(the specific person,the unspecified person and the fictional person)and mixed persons;linguistic expressions into single reference(nouns/noun phrases or pronouns)and repeated references;gestures into deictics(big pointing and small pointing),iconics(modeling,enactment and depiction)and mixed gestures.According to annotations on different types of persons in ELAN,here are the research results:Different linguistic forms and gestures are co-used in personal referential behaviors.There are four form interactions between them:one referring expression is interactive with one gesture;one referring expression with multiple gestures;multiple referring expressions with one gesture and multiple referring expressions with multiple gestures.According to different functions of gestures in referential behaviors,there are two functional interactions between them:gestures and linguistic forms are in an equal position or the latter is subordinate to the former.Specifically,in referential behaviors to present persons,a person makes use of various linguistic expressions and deictics(big pointing and small pointing)and iconics(enactment and depiction)to refer to the speaker and multiple persons,while deictics(big pointing and small pointing)and iconic depiction are used for denoting the addressee;deictics(big pointing and small pointing),iconic depiction and mixed gestures for bystanders.There are four form interactions and two functional interactions between them:gestures are equally important to linguistic expressions with functions of highlighting a referent,making a comparison and adding a description;gestures are superior to referring forms with functions of clarifying and repairing the referent.In referential behaviors to absent persons,a person employs different referring forms together with deictics(big pointing and small pointing),iconics(modeling,enactment and depiction)and mixed gestures to represent the specific person,with deictics(big pointing and small pointing)and iconics(modeling and enactment)to denote the unspecified person and with big deictic pointing and iconic depiction to the fictional figure.There are four form interactions between them except for referential behaviors to fictional figures.As for functional interaction,gestures are in the identical importance to linguistic forms in highlighting,comparing and listing referents and giving a more vivid description.In referential behaviors to mixed persons,a speaker employs diverse linguistic forms and deictics(big pointing and small pointing)and iconics(modeling and depiction)in referring to them.There are also four form interactions between them.As for functional interaction,gestures and linguistic expressions are equally significant in highlighting,listing and vivifying referents.