On the Selectivity of Modal Particles in Imperative Sentences in Modern Chinese
Min Zhu · 2005
The existence of the selectivity of modal particles in imperative sentences in modern Chinese is due to the fact that the employment of the modal particles is closely related to both the subjects and the types of the imperative sentences. The following are the manifold manifestations: 1) Modal particles are more often used in positive sentences than in emphatic and negative ones. 2) The types of the imperative sentences determine to great extent the selection of the modal particles. In positive imperative sentences, the modal particles are mainly the variations of ba(吧)and a(啊) ; in emphatic ones, a(啊) and its variations are often used; while in negative ones, the most often used modal particles are a (啊) and its variations and the combined variations of both 了and 啊3) Imperative sentences of the same type might have different distribution frequencies of modal particles when their subjects differ from each other, and the difference finds its cause in the markedness of the subjects.