A Brief Introduction on Basic Difference between Chinese Utterance—Final Particles“吗”and“嘛”

CHU Jing

【Abstract】Though exactly similar in pronunciation （[ma]），“嗎” and “嘛” have significant differences.This article introduces some basic ones.Different from “吗”，the “ground builder”，“嘛” is much more like a “ground evoker”.The core function of “吗” is to express an interrogative tone，while “嘛” is tend to express an evidential tone closely related to emotion and mood.

【Key words】吗； 嘛； interrogative； evidential； particles

The utterance-?nal particles （henceforth UFPs）are a special category of words in the Chinese language，which are one of the forms representing the grammatical category of“tone”or “mood”in Chinese，together with other forms like modal adverbs，auxiliary verbs and interjections.

The UFPs always attach to a sentence or a clause firmly and mark the end of these language units.As for “吗”and “嘛”，though carry thoroughly different meanings in the same collocation，both of them can be located in the middle and final of a sentence or a clause.

“吗” and “嘛” have different semantic features respectively when it comes to basic usage.Lets take some typical sentences to see，which mainly come from personal thinking and daily life on the basis of existing literature knowledge.“吗” comes first.

（1）Ta shi shuoshisheng ma？

Is he a master student ？

（2）Xiaochen ma？ Ta bu qu.

Are you referring to Xiaochen？ He wont go.

（3）Ni juede zheyang jiu dagonggaocheng le ma ？

Do you think you've done well enough？

In the above sentences，the UFP “吗” is mostly used in a interrogative tone，asking for more knowledge and a certain respond，as in （1）.Also，reconfirming the reference is the words another function，as in （2）.Slightly different from （1）and （2），（3）turns to strong questioning，the speaker often asks while knowing the answer，and it shares the same usage with “嘛” only on this point.Comparatively，the UFP “嘛” has more semantic functions as below.

（1）Xiaochen ma， ta bu qu.

As for Xiaochen， he wont go.

（2）Yao shi ta bu xihuan ma，jiu suan le.

If she doesnt like it， well，forget it.

（3）Yinwei wo shi nanfang ren ma， zhebian de yinshi hai dou chi de guan.

Well because I come from the south，I can get used to the eating diet here.

（4）Zuo ren ma，shouxian jiu yao shouxin.

Well，keeping your word is the first thing to be a man.

（5）Zai chi dian ma！

Feel free to help yoursellf with more！

（6）Zhe yi dian hen qingchu ma！

This point cant be clear more！

（7）Ni ziji yao zou de ma！

It was you yourself supposed （not I let you）to leave！

（8）Ni juede zheyang jiu dagonggaocheng le ma ？

Do you think you've done well enough ？

Comparing to the functional mood which the UFP “嗎” mostly conveys，“嘛” is more often used to express an additional mood，which is clearly related to the speakers emotion and attitude he/she wants the listener to know and to feel.

The above eight sentences are the most typical examples of the UFP “嘛”.（1）gives us a good example of the word “嘛” using as a pause marker，meanwhile，the speaker is telling the other that he/she knows the situation about Mr.Chen.（2）is talking about a future possibility，when stating himself/herself，the listener gets to know that what kind of act the speaker will take next，and this is the very influence the speaker has on his/her partner，merely on a low degree that the listener needs not to take any action yet.（3）is usually used in the circumstances when one would like to emphasize the reason，while （4）is often used when discussing an universal topic，with “嘛” used，the listener knows the speakers principles or values on the one hand，and receives a little persuasion on the other.Lying in the middle，（5）is seen as a pure influence on or suggestions to others，with no self-statement or self-assertion before or behind.（6），（7）and （8）all express a comparatively strong emotion，thus self-assertion follows，as if theres still something to say beyond the lines.For instance，the speaker in （6）is as if saying that since this point cant be clear more，he/she doesnt need to repeat it at all.（7）is more obvious，the speaker is defend clearly that it was the listener himself/herself supposed to but not the speaker himself/herself let the listener to leave.（8）is the only common usage shared by the two UFPs.With rigorous question raised，the speaker intervenes the listener in a way remarking on that it is totally far from enough，and further stating his/her own proposition at the same time.

Whats more，we find that when translating the above eight sentences into English，the emotion and mood the word “嘛” carries can all be replaced in other forms.Starting or reminding a topic as in （1），English use “as for” for replacement.As an interjection，“well” is extensively used on many occasions，especially in spoken English，expressing a kind of relief，resignation，agreement or understanding，hesitation or doubt，and when resuming a conversation or changing the subject after a pause or even when conceding a point in an argument.（2），（3）and （5）show good examples of these usage.For others，since different sentences have different meanings，theres no fixed forms to replace the UFP，but among them，adjective （as in （4）），adverbial clause of cause （as in （3）），negative （or double negative）sentence （as in （6）），emphatic sentence （as in （7））and rhetorical question （as in （8））etc.are all the choices.

In brief conclusion，“嘛” and “吗” share the same function in syntax as being the marker of a sentence or a clause.When it comes to semantics and pragmatics，they share similarities in some of the usage，and also bear significant difference.Being like a “ground builder”，The core feature of “吗” is to express an interrogative tone，while “嘛” is used to convey an evidential tone closely related to emotion and mood，and it is much more like a “ground evoker”.The only evidential tone that “吗” carries is the 3rd kind of usage of the its three examples，naming “strong questioning”，and the speaker must be in a “ask while knowing the answer” state.On the contrary，if “嘛” is used in the interrogative tone，it would be either misused or innovatively used.After all this is only a brief introduction on basic difference between Chinese UFP “嗎” and “嘛”，and advanced findings will be discussed in other papers.

Reference：

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