Linguistic subjectivity and the use of the Mandarin LE in conversation (Chinese)

This study investigates the Mandarin particle LE based on spontaneous spoken conversational data. Previous researchers have identified the use of LE in Mandarin Chinese as a perfect (S-le) or perfective marker (V-le). In addition to LE having the meaning of perfect or perfective, this study documents a new ‘pattern’ of the use of LE, which is identified as C-le (i.e., comment-LE). This study is primarily devoted to the subjective use of S-le and C-le and their subjective structures in conversational discourse. According to a frequency analysis of collocation patterns of S-le and C-le utterances, I find that the formulaic constructions of S-le and C-le have structures that participate in subjective expressions in discourse. This study also suggests that subjective uses of S-le or C-le involve signaling a speaker's epistemic or evaluative stance in discourse. In addition, the use of LE is highly associated with social interaction and/or action in which the speaker is engaged. In other words, the main function of LE in interactional conversation is to emphasize the speakers' viewpoints through a cooperative effort between speaker and hearer. The stance use of LE is shaped by the organization of the conversation, and the social activities of assessment, agreement, or suggestion that discourse co-participants are engaged in. The findings suggest that subjective usage must be taken into account in the grammar of the Mandarin LE. This interpretation favors a functional analysis of language and emphasizes the importance of understanding the relationship of frequently recurring patterns in discourse and the emergence of grammar as well as the significant effects of the role of speaker point of view on grammar.