Chỉ định từ dùng cuối câu và cấu trúc rìa câu trong tiếng Việt
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 3 (2021)
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DEMONSTRATIVESAS SENTENCE FINALPARTICLES
AND THEARCHITECTURE OFTHE PERIPHERY
IN VIETNAMESE
Nguyen Thi Hong Quy*
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin, NT, Hong Kong SAR, The People’s Republic of China
Received 10 November 2020
Revised 14 January 2021; Accepted 15 May 2021
Abstract: This paper analyzes Vietnamese demonstrative sentence-final particles (SFP) from
the perspective of generative syntax. Such demonstratives as đây, kia, này, kìa, and đấy can be used at
the end of a sentence to mark the psychological distance between the speaker and the proposition.
These SFPs can be divided into two groups: particles in Group I (namely đây and kia) are used
to describe the relation between the speaker and the proposition while elements from Group II (i.e., này,
kìa, and đấy) are employed to call for the addressee’s attention or to persuade the addressee to believe
in the propositional content. đây này, kia kìa, and kia đấy are three cases of SFPs used in clusters.
From Generative Grammar and Cartography’s perspective, the sentential periphery can be split
into three functional projections. The lowest functional projection, namely AttP, encodes the speaker’s
commitment to the proposition, while attP encodes the addressee’s propositional attitude. The highest
layer DiscP represents the speaker’s attitude towards the addressee. Particles from Group I are base-
generated at the Head position of AttP, whereas Group II belongs to attP.
Keywords: demonstratives, sentence-final particles, cartography
1. Introduction*
This paper focuses on five
(1) Việc này
nguy hiểm đây.
demonstratives appearing at the end of
job DEM.PROX dangerous DEM.PROX
sentences
in
Vietnamese.
Such
‘This job is dangerous, I think.’
demonstratives as đây, này, kia, đấy, and kìa
can occur at the right periphery of the
sentence to indicate the psychological
distance between the speaker and the
propositional content of the clause.
Interestingly enough, the demonstrative
particles often go in pairs, as illustrated in
the examples below:
(2) Việc này
nguy hiểm đấy.
job DEM.PROX dangerous DEM.DIS
‘Believe me, this job is dangerous.’
(3) Tôi đang ốm đây
này.
1SG DUR sick DEM.PROX DEM.PROX
‘Look, I am sick now.’
* Corresponding author.
Email address: [email protected]
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(4) Cô ấy học hai chuyên ngành kia
3SG.FEM learn two major
đấy.
DEM.DIS DEM.DIST
‘Believe me, she takes a double degree.’
From the perspective of Generative
Syntax and Cartography, the paper analyzes
the phenomenon of SFP clusters in
Vietnamese, inspired by the comprehensive
analyses of SFPs in Mandarin Chinese and
Cantonese conducted by Li (2006), Pan
(2019), Lau (2019), and Tang (2020).
Vietnamese periphery based on the
Universal Spine Hypothesis. The final part
demonstrates how this architecture explains
the phenomenon of the demonstrative
particle clusters in Vietnamese.
2. Empirical Data
In addition to the introduction and
conclusion, the paper consists of the
following parts: part 2 introduces empirical
data in which demonstratives function as
The
primary
function
of
demonstratives is to call for the addressee’s
attention to the object that is near or far from
the speaker. đây and này are used to talk
about items that are close to the speaker,
while kia and đấy are used to describe
(6), the canonical usages of demonstratives
are presented.
sentence-final
particles
(henceforth
demonstrative particles), while part 3
summarizes main findings in previous
studies on the syntax of the left periphery. In
part 4, I propose an architecture of the
(5) Bức tranh
picture DEM.PROX beautiful than CL picture DEM.DIST
‘This picture is more beautiful than that picture.’
này
đẹp
hơn bức tranh
kia.
CL
(6) Đây
là rạp hát, còn đấy
là thư viện.
DEM.PROX is theater and DEM.DIST is Library
‘Here is the theater, and over there is the library.’
Demonstratives also appear at the
end of sentences to indicate the speaker’s
attitude toward the proposition or to attract
the addressee’s attention to the propositional
content, as demonstrated in section 1. This
addressee to believe in the propositional content.
2.1. Group I: đây and kia
đây and kia mark the psychological
“distance” between the speaker and the
proposition. If the speaker participates in the
event described in the clause, or if s/he is the
person making the inference or judgment,
the proposition is marked as PROXIMAL. If
the clause is based on hearsay information or
considered “extraordinary” to the speaker,
then the proposition is marked as DISTAL.
Bui (2014) pointed out that utterances
marked with proximal đây are often related
paper
focuses
mainly
on
five
demonstratives, which are divided into two
groups. The first group, including đây and
kia, is used to describe the speaker’s relation
to the proposition. On the other hand, này,
kìa, and đấy are employed to seek for
addressee’s attention or to persuade the
1
The fifth demonstrative particle kìa is analyzed as
falling tone. Moreover, kìa cannot be used as a
metonym to refer to a distal object, but only as a
sentence-final particle.
the weak form of the demonstrative kia. It differs
syntactically and phonetically from kia. kia is
marked with the mid-level tone, while kìa is a low-
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to the speaker’s actions and plans. When the
speaker is either the agent, the patient, the
experiencer in the events mentioned,
proximal đây must be used, and distal kia is
can also be added to the end of the sentences
in which the speaker makes a prediction, as
firm beliefs in the propositional content.
(7) Tôi đang làm việc
công ty
giao
đây/*kia.
1SG DUR do things company assigned DEM.PROX /*DEM.DIST
‘I believe I’m doing things assigned by the company.’
(8) Chờ một lát, anh ta sắp đến rồi
đây/*kia.
wait a moment 3SG.MAS soon arrive SFP.already DEM.PROX/* DEM.DIST
‘Wait a moment, I think he will arrive soon.’
(9) Trời lại
sắp mưa đây/*kia.
sky again soon rain DEM.PROX/* DEM.DIST
‘I think it’s going to rain again.’
utterance expresses hearsay information. As
the speaker neither directly participates in
nor witnesses what is being said, only kia
that the information marked by kia seems to
be “extraordinary” from the speaker’s
perspective.
(10) Nghe đâu anh ta
dạo này còn yêu
một cô gái ngoại quốc kia/*đây.
hearsay 3SG.MAS recently even love
a
girl
foreign
DEM.DIST/
*DEM.PROX
‘I heard that he fell in love with a foreign girl recently.’
(11) Anh ta còn biết lái máy bay kia/*đây.
3SG.MAS even know drive airplane DEM.DIST /*DEM.PROX
‘He can also fly a plane (I think it’s extraordinary).’
2.2. Group II: này, kìa, and đấy
however, the addressee’s attention is not
entirely devoted to the event for some
particular reasons, or s/he might be
completely unaware of the information. Bui
(2014) has pointed out that distal đấy is
employed for personal events that the
addressee is also aware of and can be used to
ask for belief in the speaker’s speculations or
evaluations. As illustrated by the translation
marker believe me in English.
The second group of demonstratives
mainly targets the addressee’s epistemic
state. này and kìa ask for the addressee’s
focus on the propositional content.
Utterances using proximal demonstrative
này are primarily the information about the
speaker, or at least, what the speaker
used at the end of an utterance about a shared
topic between the two interlocutors;
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(12) Nhìn này,
look DEM.PROX husband 1SG say month next give wife a
‘Look, my husband said he would buy me a car next month.’
chồng tớ bảo tháng sau tặng vợ một chiếc ô tô này.
CL
car DEM.PROX
(13) A: Chắc là cô ta lười học lắm
Perhaps 3SG lazy study much
nhỉ?
SFP
‘She doesn’t seem to study much, right?’
B: Cô ấy còn học hai chuyên ngành kìa.
even learn two major
3SG
DEM.DIST
‘You don’t know, she even takes a double degree.’
(14) A: Chắc là bình thường anh ta chiều vợ lắm nhỉ?
perhaps usually
3SG.MAS indulge wife much SFP
‘I guess he tends to humor his wife very much, right?’
B: Tháng trước còn tặng vợ một chiếc ô tô mới toanh đấy.
month before even give wife a car brand new DEM.DIST
‘Believe me, last month he even bought his wife a brand new car!’
CL
only rely on past experience to form a
judgment.
2.3. Heteroglossia Approach
Of the particles above, đây (here) and
Nevertheless, not only the distal đấy
but also the proximal đây can be used. My
informants confirm that đấy is not
exclusively employed in assertions based on
past experience. Statements based on past
experience seem to be more credible, but it
is not necessarily the only way to convince
the addressee. A justified assertion can be
supported by reasonable inferences from
current experience, as illustrated in example
(17).
đấy (there) are the two demonstratives that
most often appear at the end of a declarative
sentence. Nguyen (2020) has suggested that
đây (here) can be used to mark an assertion
based on present evidence that the speaker is
experiencing at the utterance time, and đấy
(there) is often employed in an assertion
based on past evidence. My analysis differs
from Nguyen (2020) in distinguishing đây
from đấy based on whether or not the
statement
targets
the
addressee’s
propositional attitude. When proximal đây
occurs at the end of a declarative sentence, it
often feels like the speaker is speaking his or
her thoughts out loud. When using the distal
đấy, there should be an addressee at the
scene, and the speaker indicates that s/he is
trying to persuade the addressee to accept his
has not happened yet, and the speaker can
(15) Việc này
nguy
hiểm
đây.
job DEM.PROX dangerous DEM.PROX
‘This job is dangerous, I think.’
(16) Việc này
nguy
hiểm
đấy.
job DEM.PROX dangerous DEM.DIS
‘Believe me, this job is dangerous.’
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(17) Trông cáu kỉnh thế kia, tôi đoán nó sắp gây chuyện
đấy.
look angry
so
1SG guess 3SG soon cause trouble DEM.DIS
‘Looking at his angry face, believe me, I guess he will cause trouble soon.’
A natural question that arises here is
in which kind of context one should employ
demonstrative particles. Nguyen (2020) has
pointed out that such SFPs signal different
types of modal meanings in dialogues that
involve a multitude of differing views. In
acknowledges the space for alternatives.
Thus, đây can be classified into the
ENTERTAIN type, whereas kia is an
ATTRIBUTE one.
On the other hand, Group II particles
can be analyzed as DIALOGIC CONTRACTION
markers, with kìa acts as DISCLAMATION, đấy
functions as PROCLAMATION, and này can be
used in both ways. The distal kìa signal
emphatically asserting the proposition and
feeling very strongly about what is being
pronouncement; however, it is used to
express counter-expectation as in the
following example:
other
words,
the
appearance
of
demonstrative particles at the end of an
utterance marks a shift from monoglossic to
heteroglossic,
showing
signs
of
acknowledging alternative viewpoints.
Based on the heteroglossia approach,
particles from Group I can be labeled as
DIALOGIC EXPANSION markers (White &
be roughly translated by the pragmatic
marker I think, indicating the proposition is
only one of the possibilities. The distal kia,
which often occurs with hearsay
(18) A: Minh đang trên đường đi rồi
đấy.
Minh DUR on way go SFP.already DEM.DIST
‘Minh is on his way.’
B: Anh ta còn đang trên mạng
đây
này.
3SG
still DUR on internet DEM.PROX DEM.PROX
‘You don’t know, he’s still on the Internet (I witness that now).’
2.4. Co-Occurring Elements and Ordering
Restrictions
expectation information. The proximal
demonstrative pair đây này in (19) call for
attention to the information which the
speaker witnessed. The distal demonstrative
cluster kia kìa directs the addressee’s
attention to the information which the
speaker did not witness (i.e., hearsay
addressee’s previously mentioned opinions
by adding extraordinary information that the
s/he might not know. If the particles from
Group II do not appear in the Reaction
Moves, the sentences become infelicitous.
It
should
be
noted
that
demonstratives in Vietnamese can co-occur
frequently. In the previous sections, I have
illustrated that đây and kia often appear in
Initiation Moves; whereas này, kìa, and đấy
can be used individually in Reaction Moves.
When a particle in Group I is employed in
Reaction Moves, it often co-occurs with an
speaker does not agree with the addressee’s
opinion and provides a fragment of counter-
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(19) A: Chắc là cô ta lười học lắm nhỉ?
Perhaps 3SG lazy study much SFP
‘She doesn’t seem to study much, huh?’
B: Cô ấy còn học hai chuyên ngành đây
even learn two major
#(này).
DEM.PROX DEM.PROX
3SG
‘You don’t know, I witness that she even takes a double degree.’
(20) A: Chắc là cô ta lười học lắm nhỉ?
Perhaps 3SG lazy study much SFP
‘She doesn’t seem to study much, huh?’
B: Nghe đâu cô ấy còn học hai chuyên ngành kia
Hearsay 3SG even learn two major
#(kìa).
DEM.DIST DEM.DIST
‘You don’t know, I heard that she even takes a double degree.’
(21) A: Chắc là cô ấy chăm học lắm nhỉ?
Perhaps 3SG study hard much SFP
‘She must be studying very hard, huh?’
B: Cô ấy còn học
hai chuyên ngành
kia
#(đấy).
3SG
even learn two major
DEM.DIST
DEM.DIST
‘Believe me, she even takes a double degree (I think it’s extraordinary).’
The rule of demonstrative particle
clusters can be generalized as follows:
the speaker and the proposition. The speaker
assumes that the addressee has yet to pay full
attention to the subject matter or does not
know about it. Moreover, s/he hopes that the
addressee will accept and believe in the
propositional content.
(22) Ordering
restrictions
of
demonstrative particle clusters
i) Only a proximal demonstrative
(namely đây or này) can be paired with a
proximal one. Similarly, only a distal
demonstrative (kia, kìa, and đấy) can co-
occur with a distal demonstrative particle.
3. The Syntax of Demonstrative Particles
Following Cheng (1991), many
scholars have discussed SFPs from the
perspective of Generative Grammar,
Cartography, and Performative Projection.
A summary of studies that strongly
influenced this paper can be found in the
following section.
ii) When co-occurring, Group I’s
demonstratives, which mark the relation
between the speaker and the propositional
content, always appear before Group II
elements.
There are three possible instances of
co-occurring demonstratives: đây này, kia
kìa, and kia đấy. These clusters are usually
found in Reaction Moves and are used after
a related piece of information to support or
disprove the addressee’s opinion. To
determine whether proximal or distal
demonstratives should be used, one needs to
consider the psychological distance between
3.1. The Syntactic Position of SFPs
In the spirit of generative grammar,
the structure of a clause consists of 3
domains: the lowest level is the lexical layer
(vP domain), including predicate and
argument structure; the medial level is the
inflectional layer (IP domain), indicating
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syntax categories as Tense, Number, Person,
Case, etc.; the highest level is the
complementizer layer (CP domain), linking
the clause to its dominating clause or the
discourse domain:
(25) Ni xiang he
2SG want drink what
‘What do you want to drink?’
shenme?
(26) Ni xiang he shenme (ne)?
2SG want drink what
NE
(23) [CP… [IP… [vP…]]]
‘What do you want to drink? (I
wonder)’
SFPs tend to be analyzed as
complementizers (cf. Lee, 1986; Cheng,
1991; among many others). It was proposed
that in Mandarin Chinese, ma marks a
sentence as a Yes/No question, while ne
marks a Wh-Question, ignoring the fact that
ne is optional in a Wh-Question, and an A-
not-A question is more neutral compared
with its counterpart ending with ma.
(27) Ni xiang bu xiang he
naicha?
2SG want not want drink milk
tea
‘Do you want to drink milk tea?’
It has been well acknowledged that
there is no one-to-one correspondence
between SFPs and clause types, so the status
as clause-typing complementizers of SFPs is
doubtful. In Vietnamese, for example, the
demonstrative particle đây can occur in both
declarative and interrogative sentences2.
(24) Ni xiang he
naicha ma?
2SG want drink milk tea MA
‘Do you want to drink milk tea?’
(28) Lan đã đi Paris rồi
đây.
Lan ANT go Paris SFP.already DEM.PROX
‘Lan has already gone to Paris, I believe.’
(29) Lan đã đi thành phố nào rồi
đây?
Lan ANT go city
which SFP.already DEM.PROX
‘Which city has Lan already gone to? I wonder.’
Finally, the most fundamental
SFPs” (in the sense of Tang, 1998), by virtue
difference between canonical
of its embeddability inside a complement
clause. In contrast, as exemplified in (31),
demonstrative particles are “outer SFPs”,
which can only be interpreted in root
contexts.
complementizers (e.g., if, that, and for in
English) and SFPs is, complementizers can
be found in embedded clauses, while SFPs
generally appear in main clauses.
Vietnamese has a diverse SFP system, and it
also has complementizers, e.g., the non-
interrogative marker rằng and the
interrogative marker liệu. Complementizers
in Vietnamese only appear at the beginning
of the clause, while SFPs are used at the right
sentential periphery. The postverbal adverbs
rồi and chưa can be classified as “inner
(30) a. He wonders [CP
has already gone to Paris].
[
if] she
COMP[+Q]
b. He knows [CP
[
that] she
COMP[-Q]
has already gone to Paris].
c. [CP For] her to go to
[
COMP[-FIN]
Paris] is a dream.
2
One thing to note here - in this paper, I only focus
commitment to the issue denoted by the question;
hence đây is glossed as “I believe” in declaratives,
but it is rendered as “I wonder” in interrogatives.
on demonstratives appearing at the end of
declaratives, however the analysis can be extended
to other sentence types. In interrogatives,
demonstrative SFPs denote the speaker’s
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 3 (2021)
(31)
126
a. Minh biết
[
CP
rằng
Lan đã
đi Paris rồi].
Minh know
COMP
Lan ANT go Paris SFP.already
[-Q]
‘Minh knows that Lan has already gone to Paris.’
b. Minh muốn biết
[
CP
liệu
Lan đã
đi Paris chưa].
Minh want know
COMP
Lan ANT go Paris SFP.yet
[+Q]
‘Minh wonders if Lan has gone to Paris yet.’
c. Minh muốn biết
[
CP
liệu
Lan đã
đi Paris chưa] đây.
Minh want know
COMP
Lan ANT go Paris SFP.yet DEM.PROX
[+Q]
‘Minh wonders if Lan has gone to Paris yet, I believe.’
d. Minh muốn biết
[
CP
liệu
Lan đã
đi Paris chưa (*đây)].
Minh want know
COMP
Lan ANT go Paris yet DEM.PROX
[+Q]
‘Minh wonders if (*I wonder) Lan has gone to Paris yet.’
The root phenomenon of outer SFPs
is a strong evidence suggesting that they
should be labeled differently from canonical
complementizers. I follow the idea proposed
by Tang (2010), in which outer SFPs are
used to express Mood, Speech Act, or
Discourse information. They are base-
generated at the right periphery of the
sentence, which are functional projections
taking scope over the clause. Arguably, CP
can be split into independent functional
projections in the light of the cartography
approach.
3.2. Cartography and Split CP Hypothesis
Cartography is an approach in
generative grammar in which languages are
assumed to have a richly articulated
structure of hierarchical projections with
specific meanings. Rizzi (1997) introduced
the Split CP hypothesis based on the
research of elements appearing at the
beginning of Italian sentences, which he
terms as the left periphery. Rizzi pointed out
that CP can be expanded with four functional
projections, including Topic phrase (TopP),
Focus Phrase (FocP), Force Phrase (ForceP)
và Finite Phrase (FinP):
(32) The left periphery architecture in Italian language (Rizzi, 1997)
FinP [IP…]]]]]]
[
[
[
[
[
ForceP TopP* FocP TopP*
Scholars have been adopting the
cartography approach to study the periphery
of the sentence in different languages
(Cinque, 1999; Benincà, 2001; Badan, 2007;
Cinque & Rizzi, 2008; among many others).
Although being located at the end of the
sentence, SFPs are often classified as a
phenomenon that belongs to the left
periphery. I simply accept the assumption
that SFPs are head-final and their surface
positions at the right sentential periphery can
be derived straightforwardly, as suggested
by, inter alia, Tang (2010), Paul (2014), Pan
and Paul (2016), Tang (2020).
The phenomenon of SFP clusters in
Chinese and Cantonese has attracted many
scholars’ attention. Based on the order of
SFPs when they co-occur, people have
generally agreed that SFPs are not base-
generated at the same syntactic position.
Considering the fact that all SFPs make
some contribution to the interpretation of the
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sentence, it is feasible to assume that the
right periphery of Chinese sentences can be
decomposed into several functional
projections (cf. Li, 2006; Tang, 2010; Paul,
2014; Pan & Paul, 2016; Pan, 2019; Tang,
2020). As this paper’s primary focus is on
Vietnamese demonstrative particles, I would
not go into detail for all competing analyses
in Chinese but try to arbitrate among them.
On the one hand, if an analysis is on the right
track, it should be motivated theoretically
rather than merely generalization from
linguistic facts. On the other hand, the
framework proposed should account for all
SFP clusters or at least the most common ones.
Li (2006) has been the first proposal
on the hierarchy of functional heads in CP
domains, which can be schematized as follows:
(33) The left periphery architecture in Chinese (Li, 2006) (“>” means “syntactically higher
than”)
DiscourseP > DegreeP > ForceP > EvaluativeP > MoodP > FinP
a
ba, ma
ne
∅
∅
∅
Following Rizzi (1997), in Li’s
analysis, Finite is a null head that occupies
the lowest level in the articulated structure of
CP. She also suggested that the functional
head Force in Rizzi (1997) should be split up
into Force and Mood. The latter encodes
clause-typing information, while the former
represents illocutionary force. Both have no
phonetical realization in Mandarin Chinese.
However, the theoretical motivation for
DegreeP, which is the locus of “degree
markers”, seems fairly low. Any outer SFP
can be argued to express high or low
commitment to the propositional content, as
pointed out by Xu (2008). For example, the
discourse marker a marks a strong
commitment to the propositional content and
calls for the addressee’s response.
Pan (2019) attempted to establish an
architecture for different types of elements
in the left periphery: topics and foci,
different readings of wh-phrases, and SFPs.
If we abstract away functional projections
dedicated to topics, foci, and wh-phrases in
his proposal, the CP domain in Mandarin
Chinese can be decomposed into five
functional projections.
(34) The sentential periphery architecture in Chinese (Pan, 2019)
AttitudeP2 … [AttitudeP1 … [iForceP … [OnlyP … [S.AspP…[TP…]]]]]]
[
SFPs that are base-generated at the
head position of iForceP and AttitudeP
cannot be embedded, in contrast with SFPs
in OnlyP and S.AspP. Pan (2019) has not
pointed out any theoretical consideration for
splitting AttitudeP into two phrases, which
are assumed to host exclamative particles. In
Pan’s system, the iForceP hosts interrogative
and imperative markers. It follows that
particles from iForceP should precede
particles heading AttitudeP. From the
theoretical point of view, there is no strong
markers, as they select different sentence
types. More importantly, not every particle
heading iForceP can co-occur with particles
that express the speaker’s attitude. Pan
(2019) pointed out a cluster made up of ba
(35) Zhe xie pingguo, nimen chi le ba a!
This PL apple
2PL
eat- BA A
finish
These apples, please eat (them) A!
It should be noted that Li (2006)
acknowledged that ‘ba a’ sounds unnatural
to native speakers. It is possible to prolong
motivation
for exclamative makers
following imperative or interrogative
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the vowel of ba to make the sentence more
emphatic, but it seems to be an extra tone
added to the final syllable of sentences
(boundary tone) than the realization of the
particle a. Another way to rescue a sentence
pronouncing a with a high-level tone, rather
than a neutral tone. In Mandarin Chinese,
SFPs are pronounced with a neutral tone,
which is a bit shorter than the other tones,
and its pitch depends on the tone coming
functions as an interjection but not a
sentence-final particle. The incompatibility
of ba and a suggests that the illocutionary
force assignment might have something to
do with the speaker’s attitude, and they may
compete for the same syntactic position.
In terms of Vietnamese SFPs, based
on previous analyses of SFPs in Chinese, Le
(2015) suggested the architecture of the
periphery in Vietnamese as follows:
(36) The architecture of the periphery in Vietnamese (Le 2015)
DiscP … [Mood.InfoP … [Mood.EvalP … [DeikP2 … [DeikP1 … [ForceP…]]]]]]
[
Le
(2015)
proposed
that
Le (2015) also failed to provide robust
evidence of two or three SFPs following a
pair of demonstrative particles.
demonstratives have deictic functions and
can be base-generated in two functional
projections, namely DeikP1 and DeikP2.
These particles can be combined freely, with
the largest possible combination made of
two demonstratives. Above DeikP, there are
other functional projections, which are
termed as Mood.InfoP and Mood.EvalP,
conveying the speaker’s attitude towards the
clause, marking the information as
noteworthy, or soliciting agreement. The
highest functional projection, which she
termed as DiscP, contains sub-syllabic
meaningful units of features, à la Sybesma
and Li (2007). These features, e.g. [+nasal],
[+glottal fricative], [+high register], and the
politeness marker ạ, are assumed to establish
the relationship between the speaker and
addressee.
The analyses mentioned above share
one idea: there are several functional
projections above ForceP, and these FPs
cannot appear in embedded clauses but only
in root contexts. Scholars have different
views on labeling these outer SFPs, and it is
assumed that the functional projection
encoding illocutionary force is lower than
the Attitude head, which is not necessarily
true based on the empirical data. To solve
this problem, I believe that we should
distinguish heads that encode clause-type
information from the ones that modify
illocutionary force, as Li (2006) suggested.
Moreover, the speaker’s attitude is a vague
concept, which is more problematic when
dealing with languages with a rich inventory
of SFPs, e.g., Vietnamese or Cantonese. I
take advantage of Beyssade and Marandin's
(2006) work, in which they pointed out that
utterances have two types of impact on the
However, Le (2015) made a
questionable assumption when analyzing the
function of demonstrative particles. As
previously
discussed,
demonstrative
particles are employed to mark the distance
between the speaker and the proposition or
call for the addressee’s attention to the
context: first, they convey
a
new
commitment for the speaker; second, they
call on the addressee to take up the utterance.
In declarative sentences, the speaker is
committed to the propositional content of the
sentence. The speaker employs particular
SFPs when s/he tries to ground what has
propositional
content.
Demonstrative
particles do not, unlike canonical
demonstratives, possess deictic function
concerning space and time. Hence, there is
an overlap between her DeikPs and MoodPs.
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 3 (2021)
129
been said, making it part of the common
ground, i.e., mutual knowledge, mutual
beliefs, and mutual assumptions (Clark &
Brennan, 1991).
particles, it can be argued that they modify
the speaker’s and the addressee’s
commitment to the propositional content.
Alongside grounding particles, there are
other particles expressing call-on-addressee
or showing attitude to the addressee. In (39),
adding hả to the end of a declarative
sentence ‘Minh has already come home’
turns it to an utterance that calls for a
response from the addressee, and roughly
corresponds with the combination of
Canadian English confirmational particle eh
and the rising intonation (cf. Wiltschko &
Heim 2016). The politeness marker ạ,
rightmost position of the utterance.
In other words, I would like to
differentiate
the
speaker’s
attitude
concerning the content of the utterance from
the speaker’s attitude toward the addressee,
which is termed as call-on-addressee, in the
sense of Beyssade and Marandin (2006).
This is not a new idea, and it has been
applied to account for the syntax of SFPs in
Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese (cf. Lam,
2014; Heim et al., 2016; Lau, 2019; Tang,
2020). Back to Vietnamese demonstrative
(37) Minh về
rồi
đây.
Minh return SFP.already DEM.PROX
‘Minh has already come home, I believe.’
(38) Minh về
rồi
đấy.
Minh return SFP.already
DEM.DIST
‘Minh has already come home, believe me.’
(39) Minh về rồi hả mẹ?
Minh return SFP.already SFP.CONF mother
‘Mom, Minh has already come home, eh?’
(40) Minh về
rồi
mẹ
ạ.
Minh return SFP.already mom
SFP.HON
‘Mom, Minh has already come home ạ.’
4. Universal Spine Hypothesis
(41) Common Ground (Beyssade &
Marandin, 2006)
4.1. Terminology
Common Ground (CG) is a partially
ordered set of propositions in which the
latest element can be removed easily. If the
addressee explicitly shows disagreement, the
latest proposition will be removed from CG.
Only propositions that both interlocutors
accept (believe) can stay in CG. When one
makes an assertion, s/he suggests adding a
proposition p to CG.
In short, demonstrative particles
encode the interlocutors’ commitment to the
propositional content. Put differently,
demonstrative particles' contribution to the
discourse is to enhance the common ground,
especially when the speaker’s set of public
beliefs is distinctive from the addressee’s
one. In order to facilitate the understanding
of the role of demonstrative particles, the
following section introduces related
pragmatic concepts.
(42) Public belief (Gunlogson, 2003)
Hypothetically,
a
conversation
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 3 (2021)
130
happens between only two interlocutors:
Speaker (S) and Addressee (A).
Grammar, Wiltschko and Heim (2016)
proposed the Universal Spine Hypothesis,
which can be summarized as follows:
Proposition p is the public belief of S
(PB.S), if and only if “S believes p” is the
mutual belief of both S and A.
(44) Universal
Spine
Hypothesis
(Wiltschko & Heim, 2016)
Proposition p is the public belief of A
(PB.A), if and only if “A believes p” is the
mutual belief of both S and A.
i) A proposition p is dominated by a
speech act structure. The superstructure
above p can be divided into two layers: the
lower layer encodes the SPEAKER’S
COMMITMENT (Grounding layer), while the
higher layer encodes SPEAKER’S CALL ON
ADDRESSEE (Responding layer).
Therefore, CG can be viewed as the
intersection of the public belief of both
parties. The act of negotiating CG (the
grounding process) takes place when PB.S
differs from PB.A. The speaker disagrees
with his/her interlocutor and provides
previously unknown information. In other
words, the speaker suggests adding the
proposition p to PB.A; hence CG is updated
properly.
ii) Grounding layer encodes the
attitude of the speaker’s propositional
attitude and the addressee’s attitude towards
the propositional content (e.g., belief in p,
disbelief in p)
iii) Responding layer encodes the
speaker’s call on the addressee (e.g., a call to
a response, no call to responses, or a
direction to interpret the concerning
utterance as a response)
(43) Speaker’s commitment
A declarative sentence manifests the
speaker’s commitment to a proposition p. By
uttering an assertion, the speaker suggests
the addressee adding the proposition p to
his/her own set of public belief PB.A to
update CG.
4.2. My Proposal
In this paper, I propose the
architecture of the right periphery of
Vietnamese sentences as follows:
From the perspective of Generative
(45) The architecture of the right periphery in Vietnamese
DiscP
Disc
attP
Speaker’s Call on Addressee
ạ, nhỉ
att
AttP
này, kìa, đấy
Addressee’s commitment
Att
CP
Speaker’s commitment
đây, kia
TP
C
vP
T
VP
v
The periphery of Vietnamese
projection”
(DiscP)
and
“Attitude
sentences can be divided into “Discourse
projection” (AttP). DiscP is the highest
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 3 (2021)
131
layer, expressing the speaker’s attitude
towards the addressee (e.g., politeness,
intimacy, or call for responses). AttP can be
further split into two functional projections,
namely AttP and attP. AttP encodes the
speaker’s propositional attitude, while attP
manifests the addressee’s one.
functional projection, namely, attP, indicates
that the speaker suggests the addressee
adding the proposition p to his or her public
belief PB.A. As can be seen from section 2.2,
particles from Group II (i.e., này, kìa, and
đấy) are used to express the speaker’s belief
toward the addressee’s propositional
attitude; therefore, they are arguably base-
generated inside attP. Those attP particles
suggest the addition of p to PB.A, making p
become a part of CG.
I propose that đây and kia have a
syntactic position inside AttP by virtue of
encoding the speaker’s propositional
attitude. attP is dedicated to hosting such
particles as này, kìa, and đấy, which
essentially encoding the speaker’s belief
towards the addressee’s propositional
attitude.
Despite
having
different
interpretations, AttP and attP respectively
manifest the speaker’s and the addressee’s
attitude towards the same proposition; and
they belong in the same layer because the
speaker’s point-of-view determines both. If
the speaker labels the proposition as
proximal, both AttP and attP’s heads must be
proximal demonstratives. Similarly, both
must be distal demonstratives if the speaker
labels otherwise. This also explains why
demonstrative particles in Vietnamese can
only be paired by proximal – proximal and
vice versa.
Vietnamese is known for being a
tonal language with a rich system of SFPs.
In addition to demonstrative particles, there
are other SFPs encoding politeness or
solidarity (namely ạ and nhỉ), which are
assumed to be base-generated at the highest
functional projection, namely DiscP.
5. Matching Position and Interpretation
The co-occurrence of SFPs in
Vietnamese has been studied by various
scholars (Vo, 2012; Le, 2015; Tran, 2015).
However, to the best of my knowledge, none
has either generalized the rule of
demonstrative particle pairs or explained
why there is such a combination at the end
of a declarative sentence. Based on (45), the
phenomenon can be explained in a
straightforward manner. Particles of Group
I, namely đây and kia, are used to manifest
the psychological distance between the
speaker and the proposition, i.e., his/her
propositional attitude; therefore, they are
base-generated in AttP. The higher
Also, according to (45), AttP has a
lower syntactic position than attP, which
explains the order of appearance of
demonstrative particles in Vietnamese:
particles from Group I, those manifest the
speaker’s propositional attitude, must
precede particles of Group II, which encode
the addressee’s attitude towards the
proposition. (45) also predicts that honorific
markers in Vietnamese should appear at the
rightmost periphery of a sentence. The
prediction is borne out, as shown in the
following utterances:
(46) A: Chắc là cô ta lười học
Perhaps 3SG lazy study much SFP
‘She doesn’t seem to study much, huh?’
lắm nhỉ?
VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 3 (2021)
132
B: Cô ấy còn học hai chuyên ngành đây
3SG even learn two major
‘You don’t know, I witness that she even takes a double degree ạ.’
này
ạ.
DEM.PROX DEM.PROX SFP.HON
(47) A: Chắc là cô ta lười học
lắm nhỉ?
Perhaps 3SG lazy study much SFP
‘She doesn’t seem to study much, huh?’
B: Nghe đâu cô ấy còn học hai chuyên ngành kia
kìa
ạ.
Hearsay 3SG even learn two major
DEM.DIST DEM.DIST SFP.HON
‘You don’t know, I heard that she even takes a double degree ạ.’
(48) A: Chắc là cô ấy chăm học lắm nhỉ?
Perhaps 3SG study hard much SFP
‘She must be studying very hard, huh?’
B: Cô ấy còn học hai chuyên ngành kia
3SG even learn two major
‘Believe me, she even takes a double degree ạ.’
đấy
ạ.
DEM.DIST DEM.DIST SFP.HON
(Eds.), Current studies in Italian syntax:
Essays offered to Lorenzo Renzi (pp. 39-64).
Elsevier.
6. Conclusion
The paper discusses the usage of
demonstrative particles in Vietnamese, a
unique phenomenon that has received
attention from many researchers but has yet
to be explained satisfactorily. Based on
studies analyzing the left periphery in the
light of the cartography approach and
inspired by analyses on SFPs’ syntactic
positions in Chinese, this paper has provided
a more thorough look into the architecture of
the right periphery in Vietnamese sentences.
Beyssade, C., & Marandin, J. M. (2006). The speech
act
assignment
problem
revisited:
Disentangling speaker’s commitment from
speaker’s call on addressee. Empirical
issues in syntax and semantics, 6, 37-68.
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spatially-based polysemy network [Doctoral
dissertation, The University of Queensland].
Cheng, L. L. Sh. (1991). On the typology of wh-
questions [Doctoral dissertation, MIT].
The paper’s working framework can
be used to analyze SFPs in other languages,
namely Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese,
thus extending our knowledge in Universal
Grammar.
Cinque, G. (1999). Adverbs and functional heads.
Oxford University Press.
Cinque, G., & Rizzi, L. (2008). The cartography of
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CHỈ ĐỊNH TỪ DÙNG CUỐI CÂU VÀ CẤU TRÚC RÌACÂU
TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT
Nguyễn Thị Hồng Quý
Đại học Trung Văn Hồng Kông
Shatin, NT, Hong Kong SAR, Cộng hòa Nhân dân Trung Hoa
Tóm tắt: Bài viết này phân tích chỉ thị từ dùng ở cuối câu dưới góc độ ngữ pháp tạo sinh. Các
chỉ định từ như đây, kia, này, kìa và đấy có thể dùng cuối câu để đánh dấu khoảng cách tâm lý giữa
người nói và mệnh đề trong câu. Các trợ từ này có thể chia thành 2 nhóm, nhóm I gồm đây và kia được
dùng để miêu tả quan hệ giữa người nói và mệnh đề; nhóm II gồm này, kìa và đấy có tác dụng kêu gọi
sự chú ý của người nghe hoặc thuyết phục người nghe tiếp nhận nội dung mệnh đề. đây này, kia kìa và
kia đấy là ba cặp trợ từ chỉ thị thường gặp.
Từ góc độ ngữ pháp tạo sinh và đồ bản học, rìa phải câu có thể chia thành ba đoản ngữ chức
năng. Tầng thấp nhất AttP mã hóa cam kết của người nói đối với mệnh đề, còn attP mã hóa thái độ của
người nghe đối với mệnh đề. Tầng cao nhất DiscP thể hiện thái độ của người nói đối với người nghe.
Chỉ định từ nhóm I thuộc về AttP, nhóm II thuộc về attP.
Từ khóa: chỉ định từ, tiểu từ cuối câu, đồ bản học
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