La particule wō et wŏ en cantonais

This paper attempts to establish a general methodology for interpreting Chinese final particles. This analysis divides the intrinsic value of final particles into denotative and discursive. This methodology is applied to the Cantonese wō and wŏ to show that 1°) wō and wŏ are two variants of the same unit; 2°) the particle wō~wŏ refers to an act of enunciation; 3°) if it is the act of enunciation of the speaker's or the listener's utterance, the variant is wō ; 4°) if it is the act of enunciation of another utterance, the variant is wŏ. Other examples, taken from Cantonese (t'i`m) and Taiwanese (kong), supply further evidence for this analysis.Ricaud Philippe. La particule wō et wŏ en cantonais. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 21 2, 1992. pp. 291-308