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“Self” in Language, Culture, and Cognition
Yanying Lu
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 10] 2019
► pp. 11–36

Chapter 2
Self-referential pronouns in Mandarin Chinese

In Chinese interactions, conversational parties presume the existence of a social protocol that maintains face, or harmony, and acts in such a way as to protect its integrity. This chapter introduces how the examination of the participants’ referential pronoun can provide a salient window into the relational aspects of selfhood that arise in social interactions in relation to the communication demands in Chinese culture.
Keywords: self-referential pronouns, discursive functions, social construction
Article outline
  • 2.1Pronominal references in Mandarin Chinese
  • 2.2A discursive examination
    • 2.2.1Assertion
    • 2.2.2Mitigation
    • 2.2.3Persuasion
    • 2.2.4Accommodation
  • 2.3Summary
  • Notes
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