ABSTRACT
In this chapter the occurrence of the particle le in 66 action-picture stories (Frauman-Prickel and Takahashi 1985; Romijn and Seely [1979] 1986) is reported.1 Action stories illustrate everyday procedures and events, and detail the various steps to be followed; that is, the various ‘actions’ or ‘doings’ to be carried out in an indicated sequence. In most of the picture stories an ‘instructor’ indicates to an ‘apprentice’ which ‘actions’ to perform, and those actions are also illustrated by the accompanying pictures. Together the action sequence constitutes a generally known ‘procedure’. The data show that when a ‘problem’ develops in a procedure, the ‘instructor’ marks that ‘problem’ with the particle le. If a ‘problem’ already exists in the common ground (is already activated), the ‘solution’ to that problem is also marked with the particle le. These uses we take as in agreement with the common-ground co-ordination hypothesis for the particle le. When a ‘procedure’ follows a normal flow of events, the particle le is not used. We take this to be an indication that there is no ground for marking with the particle le. There is nothing ‘special’ to co-ordinate on at that point.
