In Chinese, the most commonly used and studied lexical items for discourse cohesion and coherence may be roughly classified into two types: (1) discourse connectors (篇章关联词 piānzhāng guānlián cí) and (2) discourse markers (语篇 标记yŭpiān biāojì). Although it is sometimes difficult to distinguish these two types of discourse devices (cf. Jucker and Ziv 1998) because of the syntactic features they share (e.g., some adverbs can be used both as a discourse connector and discourse marker), most Chinese words can be classified as either discourse connectors or discourse markers, given a clear definition of these two terms. In what follows, I will first discuss discourse connectors and relevant issues involved in teaching them to students of Chinese as a foreign language and then focus on discourse markers, their roles in discourse coherence and in acquisition.
Discourse connectors are a favorite of many Chinese teachers and students because they are logical and coherent in meaning, stable in sentence construction, easily applicable and most importantly quite effective in communication. I use discourse connectors to refer to those elements that reflect the relationship between an utterance and previous/following discourse (cf. Levinson 1983) and they are likely realized as conjunctions or adverbs to link a logical relation (e.g.
cause-result). For pedagogical purposes, we may further divide Chinese discourse connectors into two sub-types: concurrent connectors and simple connectors.
Concurrent discourse connectors refer to those used in pairs, with one introducing the cause of a logical relation and the other introducing the result. Although many logical relations may be labeled as cause and result, Chinese uses different concurrent connectors to refer to different kinds of logical relations, as classified in Table 7.1:
For adult learners of Chinese, the concurrent discourse connectors listed in Table 7.1 are easy to learn not only because they encounter various logical relations in their daily life, but also because they use similar conjunctions to express the relations in their own language (cf. Couper-Kuhlen and Kortmann 2000). The only unique feature of Chinese is the concurrence of two connectors, a rare usage in Indo-European languages.5 Nonetheless, since this type of connector is frequently used in discourse and relatively fixed in position within a sentence, students can begin learning them at the elementary level. By the time they finish second-year Chinese, students are quite familiar with the form and function of most of the concurrent connectors listed in Table 7.1. Hence, I will not explain how to use those connectors here; interested readers may consult grammar
books such as 现代汉语八百词 (Xiàndài Hànyǚ Bābăi Cí, Eight hundred Chinese words) by Lǚ (1980) or 实用现代汉语语法 (Shíyòng Xiàndài Hànyŭ Yŭfă, Practical modern Chinese grammar) by Liu et al. (2002).
Table 7.1 Logical relation expressed by paired discourse connectors LOGICAL RELATION CLAUSE 1 CLAUSE 2
Cause/result: 因为yīnwèi “because” 所以suŏyĭ “therefore”
既然 jìrán “if” 那么 nàme “then”
Condition/transition 虽然suīrán “although” 但是dànshì “but”
虽然 suīrán “although” 可是kĕshì “but”
虽然suīrán “although” 不过 búguò “however”
Condition/action 不管bùguăn “no matter” 都 dōu “all”
只要 zhĭyào “as long as” 才 cái “so”
无论wúlùn “no matter” 都dōu “all”
不论búlùn “no matter” 都dōu “all”
除非chúfēi “unless” 才cái “then”
Counterfactual/result 要是yàoshì “provided that” 就jiù “then”
假如jiărú“if” 就jiù “then”
如果rúguŏ “if” 就jiù “then”
倘若tăngruò “suppose” 就 jiù “then”
Concession/result 虽然suírán “although” 但是dànshì “but”
即使jíshĭ “even if” 也yĕ “also”
哪怕năpà “regardless of” 也yĕ “also”
就是jiùshì “even if” 也yĕ “also”
固然gùrán “It’s true that” 可是kĕshì “however”
Succession/addition 不但búdàn “not only” 而且érqiĕ “but also”
尚且shàngqiĕ “not only” 何况hékuàng “but also”
Simple discourse connectors, on the other hand, refers to those solo connectors often used to introduce new discourse, conclude discourse, or connect what has been said with what is to be said. It should be noted that this type of connector might not connect a logical relation, but could connect larger discourse units than concurrent connectors. Consider the following instances:
(7.24) “Character Stories” by Zhōu Guópín et al., p. 9
首先，我们必须分别给出图画和文字的定义：
shŏuxiān, wŏmen bìxū fēnbié gĕichū túhuà hé wénzì de dìngyì:
“First of all, we must clearly define and distinguish drawing and writing.
图画是指创作者用线条、颜色或事物创造出一种形象，以表达作者自身的 感情、意识、和认知。
túhuà shì zhĭ chuàngzuòzhĕ yòng xiàntiáo, yánsè huò shìwù chuàngzàochū yizhŏng xíngxiàng, yĭ biăodá zuòzhĕ zìshēnde gănqíng, yìshi, hé rènzhī.
“Drawing refers to images that an author creates using lines, colors, and materials to express emotion, mentality and cognition.”
文字…
wénzì …
“Writing …”
(7.25) “Character Stories” by Zhōu Guópín et al., p. 135 汉字的符号化使得汉字简化的步履越发轻快速捷了。…
hànzì de fúhàohuà shĭdé hànzì jiănhuà de bùlǚ yuèfā qīngkuài sùjié le.
“The symbolization of Chinese characters leads to the speedy process of simplification.”
另外，由于汉字的抽象化和符号化，人们在使用时，可以大胆地省略掉字
形中繁琐和重复的部分。…
lìngwài, yóuyú hànzì de chōuxiànghuà hé fúhàohuà, rénmen zài shĭyòngshí, kĕyĭ dàdăndi shĕngluè zìxíng zhōng fánsuŏ hé chóngfú de bùfen. …
“In addition, due to the abstractness of Chinese characters, people may omit complicated or repeated parts in characters with a little restriction.”
(7.26) “Character Stories” by Zhōu Guópín et al., p. 134
商代金文多象形字及由象形字合成的会意字，这些字多呈图画形 … Shāngdài Jīnwén duō xiàngxíngzì jí yóu xiàngxíngzì héchéng de huìyì zì, zhèixiē zì duō chéng túhuàxíng. …
“The Brown Scriptures of the Shang Dynasty are mostly pictographs and ideographs developed from pictographs. Most of these characters have the shape of a picture.”
然而，这种图画形文字如果要契刻在甲骨上显然是很不方便。
rán’ér, zhèizhŏng túhuàxíng wénzì rúguŏ yào qìkè zài jiăgǔ shàng xiănrán shì hĕn bù fāngbiàn.
“However, this kind of pictograph is clearly difficult to carve on turtle shells.”
(7.27) “Character Stories” by Zhōu Guópín et al., p. 29
如前所述，要表示外出打猎，那么只要用一副鹿角、一根长矛便可以表示 了；要是准备外出打猎三天，… 就在绳子上拴三块石头或者打三个节。
rúqián suŏshù, yào biăoshì wàichū dăliè, nàme zhĭyào yòng yífù lùjiăo, yìgēn chángmáo biàn kĕyĭ biăoshì le; yàoshì zhǔnbèi wàichū dăliè sāntiān, … jiù zài shéngzi shàng shuān sānkuài shítou huòzhĕ dă sānge jié.
“To summarize what has been said, (we see that) if (people) want to express the idea of hunting, (they) only need an antler and a long bow to indicate that concept. To show that the hunt will last three days, (people) may tie three pieces of stone on a rope or tie three knots in it.”
The discourse connectors highlighted in (7.24)–(7.27) are all used at the beginning of a paragraph either to introduce a new topic, add further explanation, transmit a point of view, or summarize what has been said in the previous
discourse. From the English translation, we see that English has similar discourse connectors. This similarity, like any other similarities between Chinese and other students’ native languages, certainly helps native English-speaking students learn this type of discourse connector. Examining the most commonly used simple connectors in Chinese reveals a number of discourse functions that teachers and textbook compilers may find useful in teaching students and in composing teaching materials. Table 7.2 lists eleven discourse functions and the discourse connectors used to express these functions.
The discourse functions and connectors listed in Table 7.2 comprise a large framework of discourse structure that we use for daily communication in both spoken and written forms. Because of their effectiveness, they are seen in all types of genres. This means that if students of Chinese as a foreign language want to list a number of things for discussion or essay, they should learn those discourse connectors having the function of listing. If, however, they want to arrange events and discussions according to the time when the events occur, they should learn discourse connectors of temporal sequencing, and so on. One criterion for well-organized and coherent discourse is the accurate use of discourse (connectors, especially for written discourse, although this is not the only criterion. For spoken discourse, discourse markers are more likely to be used, a point to which I will now turn our discussion).
Table 7.2 Discourse functions and discourse connectors
DISCOURSE FOUNCTION DISCOURSE CONNECTOR
LISTING (of importance) 首先/第一 shŏuxiān/dìyī “first/most importantly”
排列páiliè 其次/第二 qícì/dì’èr “next/secondly”
另外/此外 lìngwài/cĭwài “also/besides”
第三 dìsān “thirdly”
TEMPORAL SEQUENCING 最初 zuìchū “at the very beginning”
时序shíxù 后来 hòulái “later on”
同时 tóngshí “at the same time”
从那以后 cóng nà yĭhòu “from that time on/since then”
以前/从前 yĭqián/cóngqián “before/once upon a time”
现在/目前 xiànzài/mùqián “now/currently”
将来/以后 jiānglái/yĭhòu “in the future/from now on”
ADDITION (further information) 再说 zàishuō “furthermore”
附加说明fùjiā shuōmíng 另外/此外 lìngwài/cĭwài “in addition”
况且/何况 kuàngqiĕ/hékuàng “not to mention”
顺便说一下 shùnbiàn shuō yixià “by the way”
除此之外 chúcĭzhīwài “in addition”
SPECIFICATION 关于/至于 guānyú/zhìyú “as far as”
具体说明jùtĭ shuōmíng 对于 duìyú “concerning”
就 … 来说/而言 jiù … láishuō/éryán “speaking of …”
具体来说jùtĭláishuō “specifically speaking”
这(也)就是说 zhè (yĕ) jiùshìshuō “this is to say”
换句话说 huànjùhuàshuō “in other words”
CAUSE-RESULT 因此/因而 yīncĭ/yīn’ér “therefore”
结果jiéguŏ 于是 yúshì “so”
EXPECTED-RESULT 果然 guŏrán “as expected”
预料结果yùliào jiéguŏ 不出所料 bùchūsuŏliào “as expected”
CONCESSION 退一步说 tuìyíbùshuō “even if we step back”
让步ràngbù 固然 gùrán “even if”
EXAMINATION （另）一方面 (lìng) yìfāngmiàn “on one (the other) hand”
侧面考察cèmiàn guānchá 从 … 方面看 cóng … fāngmiàn kàn “looking from …”
TRANSITION 然而/不过 rán’ér/búguò “however”
转折zhuănzhé 但是 kĕshì “but”
言归正传yánguīzhèngzhuàn “come back to the topic”
COMPARISON 相比之下xiāngbĭzhīxià “in comparison”
比较bĭjiào 同样地 tóngyàngdi “similarly”
而今 érjīn “today however”
反之 fănzhī “on the contrary”
与此相反 yŭcĭxiāngfăn “conversely”
GENERAL STATEMENT 一般来说 yìbān láishuō “generally speaking”
概括说明gàikuò shuōmíng 总的来说 zŏngde láishuō “overall”
GIVING FACTS 实际上shíjìshàng “In fact”
说明真相shuōmíng zhēnxiàng 实话说 shíhuà shuō “honestly speaking”
不瞒你说bùmánnĭshuō “honestly speaking”
说句心里话 shuōjùxīnlĭhuà “tell you the truth from my heart”
REASONING 由此可见 yóucĭkĕjiàn “evidently”
推理tuīlĭ 这说明 zhèi shuōmíng “this indicates”
毫无疑问háowúyíwèn “undoubtedly”
GIVING EXAMPLES 比如/例如 bĭrú/lìrú “for example”
举例jǚlì 比方说 bĭfāngshuō “for example”
拿 … 来说 ná … láishuō “taking … as an example”
SUMMARIZING 综上所述 zōngshàngsuŏshù “to sum up”
总结zŏngjié 总（而言）之zŏng(éryán)zhī “to summarize”
一句话yíjùhuà “to summarize in one sentence”
Discourse marker is a rather familiar term among discourse researchers.
However, it is rather vague (definitely vaguer than connector) so researchers often come up with their own terminology to describe this type of discourse device (e.g.
pragmatic marker, discourse particle, pragmatic particle, connective, pragmatic expression) (see Schourup 1985; Schiffrin 1987, 1988, 1994; Clancy et al. 1996;
Fraser 1996; Jucker and Ziv 1998; Blackmore 2002). I use discourse marker only to refer to those particles used in spoken discourse. It should be noted that the choice of discourse marker and its distinction from discourse connector is purely