Chinese Language Tend To Ask

This dissertation deals with one of the most important topics in functional dislocation of sentences of different modal types, which focuses on the inherent consistence and distinguishing variation between polar rhetorical question and conjectural question.The fundamental conclusion is that subjective non-neutral question (including polar rhetorical question and conjectural question) bases on subjective emotion of speaker, and means to convey speaker's personal emotion to listener; comparing to neutral interrogative question, non-neutral question has subjective emotionality as the distinguishing characteristics.Subjective non-neutral question is used in special context where speaker finds some situation or fact or inferential result contrasting to his own reason system. On the one hand, speaker wants to make sure whether the situation or fact is true; on the other hand, the situation or fact is contrary to his reasonable cognition, which makes him tend to doubt it. The two different but related layers explain the exchangeable and even coexistence relationship between polar rhetorical question and conjectural question. On the reason layer, the pragmatical question exerts its polar rhetorical function, talking about"what should it be". On the fact layer, pragmatical question is mostly used as conjecture, considering"what is true".Besides introduction and conclusion, the thesis consists of four parts. The first part discusses the former research on questions, especially on the criterion of question's pragmatical categorization. We argue against the investigating way that uses"doubt degree"as question classification criterion, and set up"expression of emotionality"as new criterion of defining subjective non-neutral question and interrigative question. We take questions which express speaker's subjective emotions as our investigative object.The second part gets into detailed investigation of typical subjective non-neutral question, including"mofei"sentence,"nandao"sentence,"bushi"sentence and echo non-neutral question. The research on the origin, develpement and modern function of these pragmatical questions shows, subjectivity is subjective non-neutral question's distinguishing feature. Subjectivity can also explain many doubts, such as conjectural characteristics of"mofei"sentence, complexity of"nandao"sentence's pragmatics, generalization of"bushi"sentence's function, and pragmatical principle of wh-question.The third part generalizes the characteristics of subjective non-neutral questions and discuss the distinction of polar rhetorical questions and conjectural questions. The subjectivity of non-neutral questions is embodied in the typial choices, such as the choice of contrasting context, the choice of negative form or content, the choice of emotional markers, and so on. The difference between polar rhetorical question and conjectural question exists in different pragmatical layers.The last part fartherly studies the subjectivity of non-neutral question in coorperation with modal particles, development towards discourse marker and contextual result of non-neutral question.