漢英網路語言與情態對比研究(II)

Abstract

漢英網路語言與情態對比研究(II) 近三十年西方語言學界從不同角度研究情態，早期著重可能性與必要性的靜態邏輯 修飾，近年延伸至主觀性與禮貌性的動態人際功能，多偏重口語或書面語體與情境的影 響。近十年電腦中介溝通的研究大幅成長，然文獻尚未探討情態擔任線上互動策略的特 色，因此此二年期計畫擬延續本人過去研究，探討漢語與英語的網路語言與情態成分， 瞭解語用功能與社會價值的關係，並進行語言與文化對比分析。研究假設溝通策略與情 態運作受語境牽制，電子互動著重的傳訊效率可能導致語言表現比傳統溝通直接明確， 情態的角色亦有所不同。本計畫擬透過非同步之網站介面蒐集真實語料，詮釋語域與情 境變因的作用，並應用語料庫技術節省分析時間與人力，提升研究廣度與深度。 本計畫擬探討台灣與美國三種線上常見的言語行為，即交友聯誼、經驗分享與廣告 行銷，對比漢語與英語的言語特徵與情態分布，從中歸納現實與虛擬社會的文化價值異 同，並驗證東方集體主義與西方個體主義於現代新興媒體中的消長。漢英情態詞依其表 達的評估類型分為認知、義務與動力三大義項，根據語用功能與社會意涵再進行次類劃 分，並透過虛擬社群的環境、言語行為的本質及人際關係的因素剖析語言機制的解讀與 運作變異。計畫最終目標為驗證網路世界形成獨特社群，歸納漢英網路溝通特徵與情態 詞選用與連用的通用原則。藉由計畫的研究成果，希冀語言研究者與教學者能掌握漢英 電子語言與文化的共性與個性，瞭解數位化時代對人類的影響已體現於語言中。

A Contrastive Study on Chinese and English Internet Language and Modality (II) Over the recent three decades, modality has been the focus of western research from various approaches. The interpretations have extended from static utterance qualification on possibility or necessity to dynamic interpersonal management of subjectivity and politeness. To date, the major interest has been in the effects of registers and situations on modal use in oral or written contexts. Though the last decade has witnessed a growth of inquires into computer-mediated communication, little is known about how modality takes effect as online interactional strategies. This two-year project thus aims to conduct cross-linguistic and cross-cultural analysis on Chinese and English Internet languages and modal elements and their pragmatic link to the social value of network communities. It is assumed that communicative strategies and modal operations are context-dependent. The need to maximize electronic give-and-take efficiency may lead to straightforward and explicit linguistic performance. This hypothesis will be verified by authentic data drawn from asynchronous web-based interfaces. Corpus technology will also be implemented to facilitate data collection and analysis. Three commonly observed online behaviors in Taiwan and America will be investigated: relationship seeking, experience exchange, and business transaction. Contrastive analysis will be conducted on speech features and modal distributions. Cultural values in the real and virtual societies will be compared to validate the growth and decline of Eastern collectivism and Western individualism in the newly developed social media. Chinese and English modality will be classified by evaluative type into epistemic, deontic, and dynamic systems. Subcategories will be further identified to manifest diverse pragmatic functions and social implications. Variations on interpretations and manipulations of linguistic devices will be accounted for by the setting of virtual communities, the nature of speech acts, along with the parameters on interpersonal levels. The ultimate goal is to indicate the Internet as a unique community that should be studied as a social phenomenon in its own right and to derive a general principle for Chinese and English online communication and modal occurrence. Results are expected to inform language researchers and teachers of the convergence and divergence within electronic languages and cultures and to demonstrate the consequence of contemporary digitalized life in human language use.