Essays on Writing and Language in Honor - Sino-Platonic Papers

Sino-Platonic Papers, 27 (August 31, 1991)
social and cultural wisdom to back himself up. He will then be on higher
ground in his effort to persuade his listeners.
Contrast with other particles
If we contrast ma2 with two other closely related sentence final
particles, a and ne, the meaning becomes more clear. Take an example
from Xin Fhgxia, the actress and wife of Wii Ziiguibg the Beijing
playwright. In an interview with a reporter from Central Daily News,
Taiwan, she describes how during the anti-rightist campaign the party
functionaries were asking her to divorce her husband after he had been
classified a rightist. She said:
Wu bii n6ng he til li, w6 yofi ge h&i ne - I cannot divorce him;
I have 3 children.
The particle ne makes the sentence an appeal for involvement from
the listeners, somewhat like "you see". Her story reveals that xin'F&ngxia
did not want to reveal her love for her husband. Her use of ne
"rationalizes" her decision against divorce in terns of responsibility to her 3
children requiring her husband's support (morally or materially).
If "new is substituted by "a" then the tone of Xin's observation
becomes more assertive.
If it is replaced by ma2, then the meaning changes even more: ethics
and social morality are introduced with a kind of lecturing tone which
reminds listeners of their duties, social morales etc. It means: "how can a
wife like me with 3 children think of divorcing him? You must be out of
your mind".
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