Sentence-Final Particles in Mandarin*

Abstract

Mandarin Chinese is rich in sentence-final particles, which have to follow a rigid linear order when they cluster. In much of the literature, researchers focus on clarifying the functions of individual particles, with less attention being paid to the explanations of their highly restricted order. Based on corpus data and using the framework of Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG, Hengeveld & Mackenzie 2008), this paper explores the questions which particles can cluster and why they cluster in a specific order. We show that maximally three Mandarin sentence-final particles can cluster, and we argue that their sequence is restricted by their positioning in a strict four-layered hierarchical structure, in which each particle pertains to a specific semantic or pragmatic layer. In addition, Mandarin particles provide evidence that there are operators at a higher discourse level than so far assumed to exist in FDG.