ABSTRACT
This study is a functional analysis of the various uses of the particle le in Chinese. With functional we want to indicate that we look at language as a function of the human capacity to interact with others. This functional approach allows the distinction of three interaction or communicationrelated modules: cognition, grammar and pronunciation. Of these three, we see cognition as the dominant module. Without a cognitive base that is developed in interaction with the environment and with others, communication is not possible. This is true both for animals and for humans (Searle 1995; Tomasello 2003). The Chinese particle le we see as directly related to the organisation of this cognitive base, which is shared across members of a group and which is called ‘common-ground structure’ in this study (see Clark 1996). The central question of our study therefore is the relationship between the particle le and common ground structure. We will try to answer in a precise way how this relationship must be seen. However, in order to do so we will have to provide more information as to what we consider to be the human cognitive base and its various operations. We will do so in Chapter 3, where it will become manifest that our thinking is strongly influenced by the theory of mental models developed by Johnson-Laird (1983, 1993), as well as by recent developments in the study of language use (Clark 1996).
