Text Type and Particle Usage in Bisu Discourse

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Issue Date: 
2003-03
Publisher: 
Payap Research and Development Institute and SIL International
Is Part Of Series: 
Technical Paper No. 185
Extent: 
32 pages
Abstract: 
Particles are a vital component of many Asian languages. Nonetheless, they typically receive little treatment in grammatical studies. This may be due in part to the theoretical orientations of transformational/generative grammar which, intentionally or accidentally, can tend to skew data collection and analysis toward theory-predicted sentence alignments (Chu 1998, Chan 1999). In addition, the exact meaning and usage of many particles may not be obvious from phrase or sentence level analysis. Even educated native speakers often claim that particles are not true words and have no real meaning. This paper draws on Robert Longacre's (1996) framework of discourse analysis. It is applied particularly to the relationship between text type and actual grammatical manifestations in an effort to better predict particle usage in Bisu (Tibeto-Burman, Burmic, Southern Yi/Lolo) as spoken in Northern Thailand. The corpus analyzed here includes thirteen folktales, three life stories, and six expository texts.
Publication Status: 
Published
Table of Contents: 
Abstract...i Table of Contents...iii 1.0 Introduction...1 2.0 Text type and sentence structure...1 3.0 Text type and the conundrum of Bisu particles...2 4.0 Particles in Bisu folktales...4 5.0 Particles in Bisu life stories...11 5.1 Comparison of frequently used particles in the folktales and life histories...16 6.0 Particles in Bisu expository texts...20 7.0 Conclusion: Implications for linguistic theory and practice...23
Country: 
Thailand
Subject Languages: 
Content Language: 
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Work Type: 
Nature of Work: 
Entry Number: 
60448