Home “Write oneself into being”– Ha as an interpersonal pragmatic marker on WeChat
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

“Write oneself into being”– Ha as an interpersonal pragmatic marker on WeChat

  • Xiaoyi Bi

    Xiaoyi Bi is currently working at Shandong Normal University in the People’s Republic of China. Her research lies in netizens’ online opinion expressions and their pragmatic functions. She has published articles in the Journal of Pragmatics, Discourse & Society and Language & Communication.

    ORCID logo EMAIL logo
    and Elizabeth Marsden

    Elizabeth Marsden currently works at Åbo Akademi University in Finland as a postdoctoral researcher, completing a study on online discourse from a pragmatic perspective, and teaching a module on the same subject. She has published in the Journal of Pragmatics and the edited volume Politeness in Professional Contexts.

    ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: September 29, 2023

Abstract

The pragmatic marker ha 哈 in Mandarin, has little meaning in itself; while some studies have looked into its usage in spoken discourse, we seek to address its usage and unpack its specific interpersonal pragmatic function in online, private, dyadic discourse, itself an underexplored area, and a setting in which participants are free from public scrutiny, unlike on mass social media. The results demonstrate that it can be attached to clauses and sentences to show the affect of the writer, from indicating a jocular and playful tone to softening a request. Therefore, ha is used as a way to express different types of rapport orientations and positive self-presentation. By drawing on personal WeChat messages, this paper bridges the gap by focusing on ha in technologically-mediated conversation. The expanding usage of ha also suggests a wish to create linguistic forms which can act as substitutes for non-verbal communication features.


Corresponding author: Xiaoyi Bi, Institute of Foreign Language, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China, E-mail:

About the authors

Xiaoyi Bi

Xiaoyi Bi is currently working at Shandong Normal University in the People’s Republic of China. Her research lies in netizens’ online opinion expressions and their pragmatic functions. She has published articles in the Journal of Pragmatics, Discourse & Society and Language & Communication.

Elizabeth Marsden

Elizabeth Marsden currently works at Åbo Akademi University in Finland as a postdoctoral researcher, completing a study on online discourse from a pragmatic perspective, and teaching a module on the same subject. She has published in the Journal of Pragmatics and the edited volume Politeness in Professional Contexts.

References

Al Rashdi, Fathiya. 2018. Functions of emojis in WhatsApp interaction among Omanis. Discourse, Context & Media 26. 117–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.07.001.Search in Google Scholar

Androutsopoulos, Jannis. 2014. Languaging when contexts collapse: Audience design in social networking. Discourse, Context and Media 4–5. 62–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2014.08.006.Search in Google Scholar

Baxter, Leslie A. 2004. Relationships as dialogues. Personal Relationships 11. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2004.00068.x.Search in Google Scholar

Bi, Xiaoyi. 2024. A discourse analysis of critical commenting online: A study of comments on self-mockery event. Discourse & Society 35(2). 174–193.10.1177/09579265231199260Search in Google Scholar

Bi, Xiaoyi & Elizabeth Marsden. 2020. Managing interpersonal relationships: Teasing as a method of professional identity construction. Journal of Pragmatics 165. 18–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.05.003.Search in Google Scholar

Bi, Xiaoyi & Wei Ren. 2023. Metapragmatic comments deconstructing the concept of self-mockery in Chinese on social media. Language & Communication 92. 91–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2023.07.002.Search in Google Scholar

Boxer, Diana & Florencia Cortés-Conde. 1997. From bonding to biting: Conversational joking and identity display. Journal of Pragmatics 27(3). 275–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-2166(96)00031-8.Search in Google Scholar

boyd, danah. 2008. Taken out of context; American teen sociality in networked publics. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley University of California Doctoral thesis.Search in Google Scholar

Brown, Penelope & Stephen C. Levinson. 1987. Politeness, some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511813085Search in Google Scholar

Chen, Rong. 1993. Responding to compliments; A contrastive study of politeness strategies between American English and Chinese speakers. Journal of Pragmatics 20(1). 49–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(93)90106-Y.Search in Google Scholar

Cui, Xiliang. 2011. The modality meaning and function of the inter-subjective marker ha (哈) in Mandarin Chinese. Language Teaching & Linguistic Studies 4. 39–45.Search in Google Scholar

Darics, Erika. 2012. Instant messaging in work-based virtual teams: The analysis of non-verbal communication used for the contextualisation of transactional and relational communicative goals. Loughborough, UK: Loughborough University Doctoral thesis.Search in Google Scholar

Dynel, Marta. 2012. Swearing methodologically: The (im)politeness of expletives in anonymous commentaries on YouTube. Journal of English Studies 10. 25–50. https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.179.Search in Google Scholar

Dynel, Marta. 2017. Participation as audience design. In Christian R. Hoffmann & Wilfram Bublitz (eds.), Pragmatics of Social Media, 61–82. Berlin, Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110431070-003Search in Google Scholar

Fang, Hongmei & Kees Hengeveld. 2020. A mitigator in Mandarin: The sentence-final particle ba (吧). Open Linguistics 6(1). 284–306. https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2020-0018.Search in Google Scholar

Feng, Wei & Wei Ren. 2019. “This is the destiny, darling”: Relational acts in Chinese management responses to online consumer reviews. Discourse, Context & Media 28. 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.09.003.Search in Google Scholar

Fernández-Amaya, Luciá. 2019. Disagreement and (im)politeness in a Spanish family members’ WhatsApp group. Russian Journal of Linguistics 23(4). 1065–1087. https://doi.org/10.22363/2687-0088-2019-23-4-1065-1087.Search in Google Scholar

Gan, Chunmei. 2016. Gratifications for using social media: A comparative analysis of Sina Weibo and WeChat in China. Information Development 34(2). 139–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266666916679717.Search in Google Scholar

Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, Pilar & Patricia Bou-Franch. 2019. Introduction to analyzing digital discourse: New insights and future directions. In Patricia Bou-Franch & Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich (eds.), Analyzing digital discourse: New insights and future directions, 4–22. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-319-92663-6_1Search in Google Scholar

Gu, Yuego. 1990. Politeness phenomena in modern Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics 14. 237–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(90)90082-o.Search in Google Scholar

Haugh, Michael. 2010. Jocular mockery, (dis)affiliation, and face. Journal of Pragmatics 42(8). 2106–2119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.12.018.Search in Google Scholar

He, Yuehong. 2009. Hubei Lichuan fangyan de yuqici ha [Ha in Lichuan Dialect, Hubei]. Journal of Hubei Normal University 29(5). 54–57.Search in Google Scholar

Holmes, Janet. 1984. Modifying illocutionary force. Journal of Pragmatics 8. 345–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(84)90028-6.Search in Google Scholar

Jiang, Hongmei. 2009. Tantan Sichuan fangyan zhong de yuqici ha [On ha in Sichuan dialect]. Modern Chinese 8. 97–98.Search in Google Scholar

Jones, Rodney H., Alice Chik & Christoph A. Hafner. 2015. Introduction: Discourse analysis and digital practices. In Rodney H. Jones, Alice Chik & Christoph A. Hafner (eds.), Discourse and digital practices, 1–17. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.10.4324/9781315726465-1Search in Google Scholar

Kádár, Dániel Z. 2017. Politeness, impoliteness, and ritual: Maintaining the moral order in interpersonal interaction, vol. 4(1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.7577/fleks.2437Search in Google Scholar

Kádár, Dániel Z. & Juliane House. 2021. “Politeness markers” revisited – a contrastive pragmatic perspective. Journal of Politeness Research 17(1). 79–109. https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2020-0029.Search in Google Scholar

Locher, Miriam A. & Richard J. Watts. 2005. Politeness theory and relational work. Journal of Politeness Research 1(1). 9–33. https://doi.org/1612-5681/05/001?0009.10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.9Search in Google Scholar

Locher, Miriam A. & Richard J. Watts. 2008. Relational work and impoliteness: Negotiating norms of linguistic behavior. In Derek Bousfield & Miriam A. Locher (eds.), Impoliteness in language: Studies on its interplay with power in theory and practice, 77–99. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110208344.2.77Search in Google Scholar

Mao, Lu Ming Robert. 1994. Beyond politeness theory: “Face” revisited and renewed. Journal of Pragmatics 21(5). 451–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(94)90025-6.Search in Google Scholar

Marwick, Alice E. & danah boyd. 2011. I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience. New Media and Society 13(1). 114–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810365313.Search in Google Scholar

McLuhan, Marshall & Quentin Fiore. 1967. The medium is the massage; An inventory of effects. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.Search in Google Scholar

Nilsson, Jenny, Catrin Norrby, Love Bohman, Klara Skogmyr Marian, Camilla Wide & Jan Lindström. 2020. What is in a greeting? The social meaning of greetings in Sweden-Swedish and Finland-Swedish service encounters. Journal of Pragmatics 168. 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.06.007.Search in Google Scholar

Page, Ruth, David Barton, Johann W. Unger & Michele Zappavigna. 2014. Researching language and social media: A student guide. London and New York: Routledge Ltd.10.4324/9781315771786Search in Google Scholar

Pan, Yuling & Dániel Z. Kádár. 2011. Politeness in historical and contemporary Chinese. London and New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.Search in Google Scholar

Poupard, Duncan. 2012. Talking on Taobao. China Daily. Available at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201207/06/WS5a29f989a3101a51ddf8e0b5.html (accessed 16 July 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Qiu, Jia, Xinren Chen & Michael Haugh. 2021. Jocular flattery in Chinese multi-party instant messaging interactions. Journal of Pragmatics 178. 225–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.03.020.Search in Google Scholar

Ren, Wei & Yaping Guo. 2020. Self-praise on Chinese social networking sites. Journal of Pragmatics 169. 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.09.009.Search in Google Scholar

Ren, Wei & Yaping Guo. 2021. What is “Versailles Literature”?: Humblebrags on Chinese social networking sites. Journal of Pragmatics 184. 185–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.08.002.Search in Google Scholar

Sampietro, Agnese. 2019. Emoji and rapport management in Spanish WhatsApp chats. Journal of Pragmatics 143. 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2019.02.009.Search in Google Scholar

Sandel, Todd L., Chuyue Ou, Dorji Wangchuk, Bei Ju & Miguel Duque. 2019. Unpacking and describing interaction on Chinese WeChat: A methodological approach. Journal of Pragmatics 143. 228–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.08.011.Search in Google Scholar

Schegloff, Emanuel & Harvey Sacks. 1973. Opening up closings. Semiotica 7(4). 289–327. https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1973.8.4.289.Search in Google Scholar

Seargeant, Philip & Caroline Tagg. 2014. Introduction: The language of social media. In Philip Seargeant & Caroline Tagg (eds.), The language of social media: Identity and community on the internet, 1–20. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137029317_1Search in Google Scholar

Seargeant, Philip, Caroline Tagg & Wipapan Ngampramuan. 2012. Language choice and addressivity strategies in Thai-English social network interactions. Journal of Sociolinguistics 16(4). 510–531. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2012.00540.x.Search in Google Scholar

Skovholt, Karianne, Anette Grønning & Anne Kankaanranta. 2014. The communicative functions of emoticons in workplace e-mails: :-). Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 19(4). 780–797. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12063.Search in Google Scholar

Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2000. Rapport management: A framework for analysis. In Helen Spencer-Oatey (ed.), Culturally speaking: Managing rapport through talk across cultures, 11–46. London and New York: Continuum.Search in Google Scholar

Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2005. (Im)politeness, face and perceptions of rapport: Unpackaging their bases and interrelationships. Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture 1(1). 95–119. https://doi.org/10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.95.Search in Google Scholar

Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2007. Theories of identity and the analysis of face. Journal of Pragmatics 39(4). 639–656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2006.12.004.Search in Google Scholar

Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2008. Face, (im)politeness and rapport. In Helen Spencer-Oatey (ed.), Culturally speaking: Culture, communication and politeness theory, 2nd edn., 11–47. London: Continuum.Search in Google Scholar

Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2011. Conceptualising ‘the relational’ in pragmatics: Insights from metapragmatic emotion and (im)politeness comments. Journal of Pragmatics 43(14). 3565–3578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.08.009.Search in Google Scholar

Spencer-Oatey, Helen & Jianyu Xing. 2003. Managing rapport in intercultural business interactions: A comparison of two Chinese-British welcome meetings. Journal of Intercultural Studies 24(1). 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256860305788.Search in Google Scholar

Tagg, Caroline & Philip Seargeant. 2016. Negotiating social roles in semi-public online contexts. In Sirpa Leppänen, Elina Westinen & Samu Kytölä (eds.), Social media discourse, (dis)identifications and diversities, 211–234. Oxford, UK: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Walther, Joseph B. 2007. Selective self-presentation in computer-mediated communication: Hyperpersonal dimensions of technology, language, and cognition. Computers in Human Behavior 23(5). 2538–2557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2006.05.002.Search in Google Scholar

Wang, Hongyv. 2011. Sichuan Dazhou fangyan de ha zi qianxi [On ha in Dazhou dialect, Sichuan]. Sichuan University of Arts and Science Journal 21(4). 103–106.Search in Google Scholar

Yang, Xiaodong & Martina Wiltschko. 2016. The confirmational marker ha in Northern Mandarin. Journal of Pragmatics 104. 67–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2016.09.004.Search in Google Scholar

Yuan, Surong. 2008. A comparative study of Chinese ha (哈) and English eh. Journal of Foreign Languages 31(3). 64–72.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2022-07-12
Accepted: 2023-08-27
Published Online: 2023-09-29
Published in Print: 2024-07-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 25.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/pr-2022-0035/html
Scroll to top button