Review One
This unit reviews the sequence that Chinese requests follow and the different forms used to realize the alerters and head acts in Chinese requests.
1. Request Sequence
Request making in Chinese follows certain sequence, including alerters, the head act, and supportive moves. Alerters and supportive moves are optional, while the head act is the minimal and core unit of a request. For example,
小白，我找不到我的书了，让我用一下你的吧。(Xiaobai, I cannot find my book, let me use yours.)
In this request expression in Chinese, 小白 is an alerter realized by an address term, and 让我用一下你的吧 is the head act of this request. 我找不到我的书了 is a pre-supportive move which comes before the head act.
If you have any questions about the request sequence in Chinese, please review Unit 2.
2. Alerters
Alerters are used to alert the hearer’s attention, which generally come at the beginning of a request. Within a Chinese request, alerters can be realized as address terms or attention-getters. Previous studies on Chinese requests have reported the preference for address terms by Chinese speakers, the use of which also implies the social distance between the interlocutors. Here are some examples of alerters in Chinese requests: 你好/李老师/打扰一下.
If you have any questions about the use of alerters in Chinese requests, please review Unit 3.
3. Head Acts
The head act is the minimal unit to realize a request, ant it is also the core part of a request sequence. In other words, without the alerters and supportive moves, the head act can still realize the request independently.
Head acts can be realized by three types of request strategies: direct, conventionally indirect and hint (or unconventionally indirect). This instructional website introduces only a few commonly used direct and indirect strategies in Chinese requests.
For example, imperatives and request expressions that contain such verbs as 想, 需要 and 希望 are categorized as direct request strategies in Chinese. The conventionally indirect strategies in Chinese requests are primarily realized by interrogatives stated by 能 and 可以 that question the hearer’s ability and permission. In addition, questions ended with words like “……可以吗," “……好吗," “……行吗," “……怎么样” can be used to make requests in Chinese.
If you have any questions about the use of request strategies in Chinese, please review Unit 4.
Exercise:
Find a realistic scenario in which a Chinese speaker makes a request to a person in Chinese. You may find the scenario on TV, in a movie, or other media (including online sources). Describe the scenario and interlocutors in this scenario (in English), record the request expression (in Chinese characters or Pinyin with tones), identify the sequence of the request expression (e.g., alerter + pre-supportive move+ head act), and code the head act into formula(s) (e.g., direct, conventionally indirect).
(1) Describe the scenario and interlocutors (including the source):
(2) Record the request expression:
(3) Identify the sequence of the request expression:
(4) Code the head act into formula(s):
