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Beyond the deferential view of
the Chinese V pronoun nin 您
Dániel Z. Kádár,
, Juliane House, and Hao Liu,
Dalian University of Foreign Languages |University of Hamburg |
HUN-REN Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics |Hefei
University of Technology |Nanjing University
In this paper, we revisit the long-held assumption that the Chinese second-
person V pronoun nin 您is an essentially ‘deferential’ pronoun. We examine
uses of nin in settings where disagreement occurs and where conventionally
the T pronoun ni would be preferred. Our research follows a bipartite
design. First, we used a Discourse Completion Test to discover under what
circumstances Chinese speakers use nin if disagreement emerges. The
results revealed that uses of nin in disagreements are preferred in informal
computer-mediated communication and by members of the younger
generation. Second, based on this outcome we examined naturally
occurring uses of nin in online data featuring disagreement. Here we relied
on an interactional approach, which helped us to identify patterns of uses of
nin. The existence of patterns in seemingly ad hoc occurrences of online
disagreement shows that expressing deference is not the only pragmatic
function of nin.
Keywords: Chinese, V pronoun, nin, disagreement
. Introduction
This study explores how the Chinese second-person V pronoun nin 您is used in
disagreements. Mandarin Chinese has an informal T pronoun, ni 你, as well as a
formal V pronoun, nin. The latter is conventionally regarded as a so-called ‘defer-
ential’ form – it is an essentially ‘new’ pronoun which according to many previous
researchers was coined in the th century as a local ‘equivalent’ of V pronouns
in ‘Western’ languages (see an overview in Pan and Kádár ). However, nin
is dierent from V forms in other languages in that its interactional use is prag-
matically constrained: it tends to be used mostly in the North and Northeast of
China in spoken language. Thus, nin is dierent from V pronouns in languages
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.23008.kad |Published online: 16 November 2023
Pragmatics ISSN 1018-2101 |E‑ISSN 2406-4238
© International Pragmatics Association
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
such as German, French and Hungarian where the V pronoun is part of standard
language use, i.e. it is not regional or dialectal.1It is probably this constrained fea-
ture of nin – and the fact that it tends to be frequented in settings where power
is important – which prompted various researchers to argue that nin is essentially
part of deferential language use.
In this study, we aim to explore an alternative use of nin by examining its
conventionalised uses in scenarios of disagreement. By ‘conventionalised use’ we
do not mean that we presume at the outset of our research that a particular
usage of nin is conventionalised. Rather, our goal is to identify recurrent – and,
as such conventionalised – ways in which nin tends to be used in scenarios fea-
turing disagreement. We depart from the following preliminary observation: in
many instances of Chinese online interaction one can witness a noteworthy devi-
ation from deferential usages of nin. More specically, nin – which is infrequent in
colloquial online interaction outside of business and administrative situations –
seems to be preferred in disagreements rather than in deferential contexts in such
settings. This ies in the face of what has previously been the mainstream inter-
pretation of the use of nin, and it helps us interpret this ‘deferential’ expression
on a par with other honorics in East Asian languages which can express many
meanings along with deference (see e.g., Cook ; Okamoto ).
Disagreement in this study mainly involves contexts where the face of one
or more of the participants is threatened, which is typical in anonymous online
scenarios. Researchers have pointed out that in many languages a switch to a V
pronoun indicates disagreement and conict in settings where the T pronoun
would normally be preferred. However, surprisingly little attempt has been made
to explore such usages of nin, and in this study we aim to ll this knowledge gap
with the aid of a bipartite research procedure. First, we use a Discourse Comple-
tion Test (DCT; see Blum-Kulka et al. ) to investigate circumstances where
nin tends to occur in scenarios involving disagreement. We employ the two vari-
ables of age and oine/online segments of interaction (see more below). Second,
based on the outcome of this rst step we examine naturally occurring uses of
nin in online interactions where disagreement occurs. Here we conduct an inter-
actional analysis, trying to see whether there are patterns of recurrence in our
data. The existence of patterns in seemingly ad hoc online interactions may in turn
show that uses of nin in disagreement can be as conventionalised as deferential
usages in certain interaction types.
Through this bipartite approach we aim to:
. Note that due to the standardisation of Mandarin in China the V pronoun nin is becoming
increasingly popular in dialect-speaking areas as well, especially in written form. However, in
spoken language it tends to be frequented in the North and Northeast of China.
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
. Determine in which mode of interaction (i.e., online and/or oine) and by
members of which age group disagreement uses of nin tend to be preferred;
. Examine recurrent uses of nin in naturally occurring disagreement interac-
tions, by studying (a) speech acts and interactional patterns in which nin is
preferred and (b) symmetrical and asymmetrical uses of nin (versus the T
form ni).
Our study is structured as follows. Section provides a review of previous
research on the use of V pronouns in general and nin in particular. In Section
we describe our methodology and data. Section presents the results of the data
analysis, while Section provides a conclusion.
. Review of literature
The T/V distinction has been very broadly studied in pragmatics (see e.g. Braun
; Mühlhäusler and Harré ; Clyne et al. ; Cook ; House and
Kádár ).2This body of research has largely started with the seminal work
of Brown and Gilman () who described the T/V pronominal distinction in
terms of power and solidarity, arguing that the T-form indicates intimacy and
familiarity between the interactants, while the V-form indicates power, seniority
and authority. One of the early critiques of Brown and Gilman was Kendal ()
who pointed out that the same pronominal form can acquire a diverse and com-
plex set of meanings in a particular context. Also, as Martiny () argued, inter-
actants may manipulate any conventional meaning of a pronominal form to create
new meanings beyond the alleged correlation with power and solidarity (see also
Geyer ).
Later research on V pronouns revealed that the V form tends to be used in
conictive encounters where it generally indicates social distance. Such conic-
tive usages of V pronouns have been found to exist in many languages. For exam-
ple, the V form Sie in German can be “an instrument of exclusion” (Clyne ,
) and it may be associated with isolation, arrogance, distance, coldness, rejec-
tion and so on (Winchatz ). Furthermore, a change from T to V is usually
considered an insult. An example of such changes was studied by Kretzenbacher
and Schüpbach () in the context of German. To provide another example, the
Spanish V form usted (and its plural ustedes) is frequented in conictive political
. An up-to-date overview of research on pronouns as part of the broader topic of terms of
address can be found at the website of the International Network of Address Research: https://
inarweb.wordpress.com/home/annual-bibliography/
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
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interaction, in particular in face-threats (see e.g., Arroyo ). Similarly, a shi
from the French T form tu to its V form vous can be experienced as breaking up
an established relationship (e.g., Morel ; Fontaine ; Bouissac ).
Unlike research on ‘Western’ languages, in studies on Chinese language use,
disagreement uses of the second-person V pronoun nin have largely been ignored.
A general line of argument3has here been the following: ni by default indicates
equality, familiarity and solidarity between the interactants, and nin by default is
associated with deference, power and social distance (see e.g., Chen , ;
Zhu ; Guo ; Lee ; Jing et al., ). The renowned linguist Y. R. Chao
() already pointed out early that the honoric pronoun nin is commonly used
between strangers and towards superiors. Due to this deferential use, nin was
ousted during the ‘Cultural Revolution’ (Fang and Heng ), and it was revived
in colloquial Chinese only in the s (Blum ; Pan and Kádár ; Kádár
and Ran ; House and Kádár ). Various studies have shown that nin cur-
rently tends to be used in both colloquial and written Chinese (e.g., Pan ;
Liu , ; Xiang ). Interestingly, various scholars have argued that even
in conictive scenarios nin is generally associated with deference rather than con-
ict. For instance, Kuo () argued that a switch from ni to nin expresses sin-
cerity in political debates. In a similar vein, Zhu () argued that nin expresses
politeness in conicts between parents and children.
Yet, some studies have pointed out that the meaning of the V-form nin as a
form of deference may be manipulated in particular contexts. For example, Chen
() noted that characters in Beijing dialectal playscripts may address their sub-
ordinates with nin when in disagreements. Zhou () analysed ctional data
where juniors address their elders with nin in a non-deferential way when making
complaints, questioning their authority and arguing with them. Notwithstanding
its academic importance, it must be conceded that this body of studies is mostly
based on ctional data. A noteworthy exception is Wang and Taylor () who
studied usages of nin in bald-on-record face attacks in online forums. However,
Wang and Taylor only mentioned such usages of nin in passim. We aim to take this
previous line of investigation further by conducting a study dedicated to usages of
nin in disagreements in both elicited and naturally occurring data. Our research
is also relevant to a previous body of studies, including Mao and Hao (), Mao
and Zhao (), and Bian (), dedicated to disagreement in Chinese.
. See e.g., Lü (); Zhu (); Chen ().
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
. Methodology and data
In our research, we were inspired by the above-mentioned study of Wang and
Taylor () who briey referred to conictive usages of nin in online settings.
Our research question is a very general one: we ask when and how nin tends to
be used in scenes of disagreement. The research reported in this paper followed
a bipartite design. In the rst part of our research we conducted a DCT (Blum-
Kulka et al. ) to investigate in which interactional segments and by members
of which age group nin is preferred whenever a disagreement occurs in situations
which are not dominated by power (see also Appendix ).4Here we were particu-
larly interested in whether what Wang and Taylor () mentioned can be repli-
cated with a larger dataset. However, we did not intend simply to replicate Wang
and Taylor’s (), but rather venture beyond what they have explored because
their study represents analyst observations rather than language users’ produc-
tions and interpretations of disagreement uses of nin. Thus, we still know very lit-
tle about when and how nin is preferred in settings of disagreement, and whether
such settings are necessarily online ones. This rst part of our bipartite research
helped us to set up the parameters of the second part of our research.
Based on the outcomes of the rst part of our research, in the second part
we examined the ways in which the V pronoun nin is used in scenes of disagree-
ment in naturally occurring online data. Considering that we were interested in
recurrent and as such conventional uses of nin where it coincides with disagree-
ment rather than deference, our data here was drawn from informal and anony-
mous online settings, rather than, e.g., the realm of business and service (see more
below).
In the rst step of our research, we provided a DCT to native speakers of
Mandarin Chinese by using WeChat and email. We designed the DCT so as to
determine whether nin uses are distributed equally in oine and online settings
of disagreement. Accordingly, we formulated eight oine and eight online dis-
agreement scenarios. Further, since nin is conventionally expected to be used in
settings dominated by power,5in order to elicit its uses in disagreement setting we
only included [–P] situations in all the scenarios featured in the DCT. We also
. We are aware of all the criticisms relating to the DCT methodology, such as the reservation
Eelen () voiced. In House and Kádár () we discussed in detail how DCTs can be
adjusted to the study of interactional data. We believe that while the DCT approach has issues,
it remains a very useful approach provided that one uses it in a mixed method way, as we also
do in the present paper.
. See Chen ().
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considered the variable of Social Distance (SD). Accordingly, our sixteen scenar-
ios in the DCTs varied as follows:
– DCTs [–P, +SD] [online]
– DCTs [–P, +SD] [oine]
– DCTs [–P, –SD] [online]
– DCTs [–P, –SD] [oine]
We distributed the DCT to participants. We gave no explicit instructions or
hints concerning pronominal choices, in case our respondents realised the pur-
pose of our experiment. All participants enrolled were non-linguists and univer-
sity educated. They were divided into two age categories:
. Age group : – years old
. Age group : – years old
The following Table summarises the demographic background of our partici-
pants.
Table . Demographic features of the participants involved in the DCT
Age group Number of participants
–
–
Our sixteen DCT scenarios triggered altogether , responses.6We cate-
gorised the elicited data according to the above-outlined variables.
In the second part of our analysis, we explored recurrent uses of nin in nat-
urally occurring online data. Here we used a model that allowed us to interpret
expressions and speech acts in interactional slots (see Edmondson and House
; House and Kádár ; Edmondson et al. ). In this system, we rely on
the following two analytic levels:
. Expressions embedded in speech acts occurring in scenes of disagreement:
We investigated which speech act types nin co-occurs with. This is clearly an
important issue if one intends to study whether uses of nin in disagreement
follow any conventions in seemingly ad hoc and anonymous online settings.
. Speech act sequences in disagreement exchanges: We examined how the
above speech act types realising disagreement – and nin embedded in such
. Twenty participants did not respond to some of the conictual scenarios, because, in accor-
dance with their subsequent explanation, they would not do so in real life.
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
speech acts – are used in the larger unit of exchanges. This is a further area to
consider if one intends to identify recurrent patterns – i.e., conventions – in
the use of nin in naturally occurring data like ours.
Throughout the analysis, we also considered symmetrical and asymmetrical uses
of nin, i.e., both instances when nin is reciprocated and others when it is not reci-
procated.
We sampled naturally occurring online data featuring disagreement uses of
nin from commentaries on microblogs posted on the Chinese Sina Weibo (hence-
forth Weibo) platform. Weibo provides a Twitter-like e-platform for users to
exchange opinions on social issues in the form of microblogs and follow-up com-
mentaries. On Weibo, unless the privacy function is activated, one does not need
to wait for the owner’s approval to become a ratied follower and/or contribu-
tor. We chose Weibo as our data source not only due to the recurrence of inter-
actions featuring disagreement in this platform, but also because Weibo provides
open access to both microblogs and their follow-up commentaries.
To collect data, we adopted a commercial web crawler to retrieve commen-
taries attached to the top ve heatedly discussed microblogs on Weibo. References
to the built-in list of real-time top searches were made because microblogs listed
there are supposed to have attracted disagreement between users, thereby ensur-
ing a relatively high incidence of disagreement interaction. The process of
retrieval started in October and ended in December with a two-day-
per-week interval.
Disagreement interaction emerged in our data when a user’s contribution is
opposed by another user, whereupon the rst user then contradicts this opinion.
Following Auer (, ) and Androutsopoulos () we treated each com-
mentary thread as the equivalent of an interactional episode, i.e., as a basic unit of
analysis in the study of disagreement interaction. We performed a keyword search
for nin in the collected episodes. Through this keyword search we obtained a cor-
pus of eighty-two episodes involving nin. These episodes involve altogether
contributions made by individual users.
We transcribed our data in a simple and accessible way proposed in
Edmondson and House (), House and Kádár () and Edmondson et al.
(). Following such previous research, the most basic unit in the interactional
structure is an exchange through which users co-construct an outcome through
individual moves. In the simplest two-move unit of exchange, the rst move is
called an Initiate, the second that complements or ‘fulls’ the rst is called a Sat-
isfy. If the second move does not ‘satisfy’ the Initiating one (e.g., the second move
turns down a speech act of Request that Initiates an exchange), it turns out to be
a Contra move. Another move that is essentially similar to a Contra is a Counter.
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
However, instead of representing essentially something nal as the former does,
a Counter is similar to an objection that leads to further negotiation. Counter is
particularly relevant for studying interactional conicts. A further possible move
is a Grounder, a typical form of ‘Supportive Move’ which provides a reason for
one’s actions (see Edmondson and House ). In studying speech acts in the
interactional structure described above, we deployed the speech act typology pro-
posed in Edmondson and House (), Edmondson et al. () and House and
Kádár (). We will introduce the individual speech act categories that are rele-
vant to the data analysis whenever they rst occur in the analysis (see Section ).
We used annotation boxes on the right-hand side of the transcripts. In these
boxes, we indicated both occurrences of nin and the speech acts and the broader
interactional structural slots in which uses of nin occur. Note that both speech act
categories and terms referring to the structure of an exchange, including our units
of analysis (e.g., ‘Initiate’) were capitalised in our transcript.
. Analysis and results
. Step
Among the , responses for our DCT, we received responses in which alto-
gether forty-four participants used nin in settings of disagreement. Such uses are
therefore relatively infrequent in our elicited data. This may partly be attributed
to the fact that the participants in our DCT did not address the other interactant
in the scenario presented, and also they oen used the T form ni.
Table provides a summary of the responses involving uses of nin in scenes
of disagreement and the respondents who realised such uses of nin, including the
age of the respondents, as well as the mode of interaction.
Table . Number of responses involving uses of nin in disagreement
Modes of interaction
Age group
Total– –
Online (n=,)
Oine (n=,)
Total
Table shows the following:
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
. There are signicant dierences in the ways in which speakers of Chinese use
nin in online and oine interactions involving disagreement. Although both
online and oine scenarios evoked uses of nin in disagreement scenarios,
most of our elicited instances of nin uses occurred in online settings (/
responses, i.e., ).
. In addition to the online/oine dierence in uses of nin in scenarios of dis-
agreement, a generational variation is also present in our data. Almost all
instances of uses of nin in contexts where disagreement emerges were pro-
vided by younger participants (/ responses, ). Members of the older
generations only provided ve instances of such nin uses (i.e., ).
. If both age and modes of interaction are taken into account, the uses of nin in
online interactions where disagreement occurs by participants of the younger
generations made the biggest contribution to the overall number of occur-
rences (i.e., / participants, ; / responses, i.e., ). This pro-
vides the empirical basis for the choice of data in our second part of the
analysis. It also points to a fact that we will revisit in the study of online data,
namely that uses of nin by younger language users in online settings tend to
be recurrent and as such conventionalised to a certain degree.
. Step
.. Distribution of nin (versus ni) in online interactions where disagreement
occurs
The analysis of the eighty-two episodes of interactions with disagreement (involv-
ing altogether contributions and interactants) in our corpus shows the fol-
lowing distribution of nin versus ni.
Table . Distribution of nin and ni in online conictive interactions
T/V
choice
Number
of
occurrences
Number of
contributions
involving
T/V form
Number of
interactants
who used
T/V form
Numbers of interactants who adopted a particular
pattern of T-V switch Number of
episodes
involving
symmetrical
use of ninTVT TV VT
V only
across
contributions
in a single
contribution
V form nin
T form ni
Even though all the sampled episodes include at least one instance of nin,
there appears to be a more general preference for the T pronoun ni among the
interactants. This accords with the fact that computer-mediated communication
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
is similar to colloquial face-to-face language use across many linguacultures (see
e.g., Williams and van Compernolle ; Wittmann ).
The preference for the T form ni as indicated by Table above becomes even
more salient if one considers the frequent switches between ni and nin in the
episodes concerned: among the eighty-nine interactants who used nin at least
once to address the other, only twelve () used nin without any switch to the
T form ni throughout the episode where the disagreement occurred. Eight out of
these twelve interactants used nin only in a single contribution. From the other
seventy-seven interactants, thirty-seven () followed a TVT switch pattern,
thirty-eight () made TV switches, while two () switched from the V form
nin to the T form ni. Further, eight out of the eighty-two episodes () incorpo-
rated symmetrical uses of nin, that is, both interactants used nin.
In sum, the distribution of nin shows that in our data the use of this expres-
sion follows clear conventionalised patterns as far as pronominal switches are
concerned. In the following, we investigate whether such switch patterns tend to
be pragmatically meaningful. In the following, we will investigate in detail how
the interactants use nin to address the other in the disagreement scenarios under
investigation. In this section we also consider the actual pragmatic function of nin
in scenes of interpersonal disagreement.
.. Nin embedded in speech acts and interaction
From this point on, we analyse recurrent uses of nin in the relevant instances of
interaction involving disagreement, by investigating the speech acts and broader
interactional patterns in which nin is used. In this speech act and interaction-
focused analysis, we also consider pronominal switches. Reporting on our results
in this section follows the frequency of speech act types in which nin recurrently
occurs in our data. Table summarises in decreasing order of occurrence the
speech act types in which nin occurs.
Table . Overview of the types of speech acts featuring the conictive uses of nin
Types of speech act Number of occurrences
Opine
Request Request-for-information
Request-(not)-to-do-x
Congratulate
Others (i.e., Wish-well, Thank, Suggest, Complain)
Total
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
Table shows that Opine (/, ), Request (/, ) and Con-
gratulate (/, ) constitute the most frequent speech act types co-occurring
with nin.Nin also occurred embedded in other speech act types as Table indi-
cates, but since in the current study we pursue interest in clearly conventionalised
use patterns of nin, here we focus on the most frequent occurrences of nin, i.e.,
cases when it is embedded in the speech acts Opine, Request and Congratulate.
It is important to note that both the opening and the closing phases in the
interactions in our corpus appear to be peripheral, unlike their counterparts in
oine interactions where disagreement occurs. For one thing, the online dis-
agreement interactions in our data very oen end rather ‘abruptly’ as one of
the interactants withdraws from the interaction without realising the speech act
Leave-take, irrespective of whether the bone of contention is settled or not. Fur-
thermore, an online interaction of disagreement oen directly arises when a sec-
ond user self-selects as an interactant of the disagreement aer opposing another
user’s contribution and then receives that user’s opposing comment. Thus, the
transition between the opening and core phases can be so uid that, in most of
the episodes, it was dicult for us to identify separate opening and core phases.
Thus, opening and closing are rarely featured in our analysis.
All examples presented below are unedited and may thus include typos and
misspellings in the Chinese original text. Contextual information concerning,
for example, the microblog under discussion, will be provided as an informative
gloss.
Uses of nin in disagreement: Opine
A major speech act interactants frequently perform when they deploy nin is
Opine. Here, we dene an Opine in the following way:
Opines are close to Tells, and have a similar range of possible uses. … the two
illocutionary types cannot always be sharply distinguished, as the dierence
between a ‘face’ and an ‘opinion’ is highly subjective. A major dierence …
between a Tell and an Opine is in terms of the exchange structures they most
commonly enter into. … Opines on the other hand may appear as Initiates, Satis-
es, Contras or Counters, i.e. they are common coins in the process of conversa-
(Edmondson and House , –)tional negotiation.
Consider Example ():
() [Context: This episode was extracted from the commentaries on a microblog
regarding a fraud case in a Chinese city. It was reported that a young man
scammed a single mother, making her pay so much money that she could not
even aord to feed her baby. This case aroused heated discussion in the ensuing
commentaries. While some users criticised the fraud, others made overgeneralis-
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
ing comments about the city where the scam occurred. The following episode
took place when such an overgeneralising comment about the city was made by
user A. In the transcript below User B who comes from the city in question chal-
lenged User A.]
A: 啧，早就听说X市人不咋滴，穷山恶水出刁民。
Ze, zǎo jiù tīngshuō X shì rén bù zǎ di, qióngshān è’shuǐ
chū diāomín.
Gee, (I) have long heard that the people in City X are ill-
behaved. Poor environment breeds misbehaved people.
. Grounder
Opine
(Initiate)
B： 因为一件哪里都会发生的案件就抹黑一座城市，您
也就这水平了。
Yīnwèi yījiàn nǎlǐ dōu huì fāshēng de ànjiàn jiù mǒhēi
yīzuò chéngshì, nín yě jiù zhè shuǐpíng le.
As you discredited a city only because of a case that can
happen anywhere, you (nin)will never become well-
educated.
. Grounder
Opine
(Counter)
A: 你水平高，那你倒是做点好事给你市正正名啊？
Nǐ shuǐpíng gāo, nà nǐ dàoshì zuò diǎn hǎoshì gěi nǐ shì
zhèngzhèngmíng a?
Why don’t you do something good to rectify the name of
your city, if you are so well-educated?
. Suggest
(Counter)
B: X市人民善良正直，不需要我正名。
X shì rénmín shànliáng zhèngzhí, bù xūyào wǒ
zhèngmíng.
People from City X are kind and righteous. They don’t
need me to make any rectication.
. Grounder
Opine
(Counter)
In this episode, A initially criticises people from City X through a potentially
oensive Opine. In line , countering A’s Opine, B realises an Opine about A’s
Opine and uses nin here to distance himself from A. A subsequently Counters this
Opine via a ‘non-innocent’ Suggest, i.e., a Suggest which seems to be constructive
but which is actually negatively loaded. In turn, this Suggest is Countered by B
through a Grounded Opine in line . As Line of this extract shows, the use of
nin in a disagreement is more likely to occur when an interactant expresses his
negative opinion about the other.
() [Context: This episode was drawn from commentaries on a microblog about
Celebrity Y who donated 150 thousand yuan to a charity. In the ensuing com-
mentaries, fans of Celebrity Y rushed forward to praise their idol, and other
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
users, including User B in the following episode, criticised Celebrity Y by arguing
that 150 thousand is such a small amount of money to donate for a celebrity that
he should not have been mentioned at all in social media.]
A: 明星Y棒棒哒！
Míngxīng Y bàngbàng da!
Celebrity Y is great!
. Opine
(Initiate)
B: w 也没多少啊其实这么宣传过了吧。
Shíwǔ wàn yě méi duōshǎo a qíshí, zhème xuānchuán guò
le ba.
In fact, a -thousand-yuan donation does not matter
that much. It should not have been promoted in such an
excessive way.
. Opine
(Counter)
A: 那你好有钱哇，
Nà nǐ hǎo yǒuqián wa,
You are pretty rich then.
. Opine
(Counter)
我觉得w不少了，
Wǒ juéde shíwǔ wàn bùshǎo le,
I think thousand yuan is a pretty penny.
Opine
毕竟我连个零头都拿不出来。
bìjìng wǒ lián gè língtóu dōu ná bù chūlái.
Aer all, I can’t even donate a fraction of that.
Tell
B: 不是我有钱，
Bùshì wǒ yǒuqián,
This has nothing to do with my nancial condition.
. Opine
(Counter)
你们收入不在一个水平上他拿w跟你拿一毛五一
样。
nǐmen shōurù bùzài yīgè shuǐpíng shàng, tā ná shíwǔ wàn
gēn nǐ ná yīmáowǔ yīyàng.
This is because your level of income is dierent from his.
A -thousand donation from him actually equals to a
-cent one from you.
Grounder
Opine
(Counter)
A: 不是啊，不论数额大小，奉献了就值得宣传啊。
Bù shì a, bùlùn shù’é dàxiǎo, fèngxiàn le jiù zhídé
xuānchuán a.
That is not the case. As long as one donates, regardless of
the amount, it’s worth publicising.
. Opine
(Counter)
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
B: 我要捐了一毛五肯定不发微博跟大家炫耀。
Wǒ yào juānle yīmáowǔ, kěndìng bù fā wēibó gēn dàjiā
xuànyào.
If I donated cents, I would never post it on Weibo to
show o.
. Opine
(Counter)
果然脑残粉。
Guǒrán nǎocán fěn.
You must be a brainless fan.
Complain
A: No，我不是他粉丝。
Wǒ bùshì tā fěnsī.
No, I am not a fan of him.
. Tell
(Counter)
不过您捐了多少呢？
Bùguò nín juānle duōshǎo ne?
So how much have you (nin)donated?
Request (for
information)
(Initiate)
您怕是捐了一张杠精的嘴。
Nín pà shì juānle yīzhāng gàngjīng de zuǐ.
I’m afraid you (nin)have donated nothing but your
mouth for trolling.
Opine
宣传这种正能量行为总也比花边新闻好。
xuānchuán zhèzhǒng zhèngnéngliàng xíngwéi zǒng yě bǐ
huābiān xīnwén hǎo.
It is always better to publicise this kind of prosocial
behaviors than to disseminate titbits.
Opine
B: 不是杠只是举个例子而已。
Bùshì gàng, zhǐshì jǔ gè lìzi éryǐ.
I’m not trolling. I’m just presenting you an example.
. Tell
(Contra)
Grounder
那么多明星都捐了几百万，也没见人家在热搜博眼
球。
Nàme duō míngxīng dōu juānle jǐbǎiwàn, yě méi jiàn
rénjiā zài rèsōu bóyǎnqiú.
So many celebrities have donated millions, but they
haven’t been seen to ood the screen and grab attention.
Opine
A: 可能别人的确低调，不想宣传，
Kěnéng biérén díquè dīdiào, bùxiǎng xuānchuán,
Maybe they are modest and don’t want themselves
publicised.
. Opine
(Counter)
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
但你不能说宣传了就不对。
dàn nǐ bùnéng shuō xuānchuán le jiù bùduì.
but you can’t say that it’s wrong to get one who donates
publicised.
Opine
宣传这种正能量行为总也比花边新闻好。
Xuānchuán zhèzhǒng zhèngnéngliàng xíngwéi zǒng yě bǐ
huābiān xīnwén hǎo.
It is always better to publicise this kind of prosocial
behaviors than to disseminate titbits.
Opine
In Example (), the interactants disagree about whether Celebrity Y’s
-thousand donation should be publicised or not. In lines –, they Counter
each other various times through a barrage of Opines and they use ni symmetri-
cally. In line , the conict intensies as B realises a Complain by calling the other
a ‘brainless fan’ (năocán fěn 脑残粉) to A. In line , A rst Counters B’s Complain
with an Opine and then utters a Request (for information) and an Opine, both
including nin. Here nin clearly has the function of distancing B from A aer the
other’s derogatory language. Later on, both interactants switch back to ni.
The high co-occurrence of Opines and nin is logical if one considers that all
the Opines in the disagreement interactions in our data are ‘non-innocent’, i.e.
they express a negative opinion of the interactant by adding a mocking overtone.
Uses of nin in disagreement: Requests
Another speech act in which disagreement uses of nin are preferred is Request,
through which ‘the requester asks the requestee to do something which is in
the interest of the requester’ (Edmondson and House , ). A distinction
is made here between Requests (for information) and Requests for future acts
(‘Request-[not]-to-do-x’) in accordance with Edmondson and House () and
Edmondson et al. (). The following Example () provides an example of
Request-for-information where nin occurs in disagreement.
() [Context: This episode was drawn from commentaries on a microblog about
Celebrity Z who faked his academic degree. It was reported in the microblog that
Z had been selling his public persona as a top graduate from a key university
(so-called Project 211 University in Chinese). Some users, including User A in our
episode, accused the celebrity of fabricating his public persona in the interest of
getting huge followings, while others (especially those who claimed to be fans of
this celebrity) insisted that he worked his way up by himself rather than selling
his public persona to gain popularity.]
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
A: 那可确实没少营销过，说自己。
Nà kě quèshí méi shǎo yíngxiāo guò, shuō zìjǐ èryāoyāo.
He has denitely sold it (his public persona) a lot,
alleging that he graduated from a key university of Project
.
. Opine
(Initiate)
B: 你的意思是我上着大学还不能说我是这个学校的得等
拿到毕业证才能说对吧。
Nǐ de yìsī shì wǒ shàng zhe dàxué hái bùnéng shuō wǒ shì
zhègè xuéxiào de, děi děng nádào bìyèzhèng cái néng shuō,
duì ba?
You mean that one cannot say he’s from a university when
he is still studying at that university, and that he can only
do so aer graduating from it, right?
. Request
(for
information)
(Counter)
营销是啥意思？
Yíngxiāo shì shá yìsī?
What’s the meaning of ‘selling (public persona)’?
Request (for
information)
你查查再说也不至于被群嘲。
Nǐ chá cha zàishuō yě bùzhìyú bèi qúncháo.
If you had looked it up before using it, you would not
have been ridiculed by the crowd.
Complain
(Counter)
A: 杂志上好多篇幅写他高学历，通稿也不少这叫没有营
销，
Zázhì shàng hǎoduō piānfú xiě tā gāoxuélì, tōnggǎo yě
bùshǎo, zhè jiào méiyǒu yíngxiāo.
There have been page-long reports on his high degree in
both magazines and news coverage. So he must not have
sold his fake public persona.
. Tell
(Counter)
我们 giegie 最好行了吧。
Wǒmen giegie zuìhǎo, xíng le ba.
All right, have it your way. Our brother (giegie) is the
best.
Opine
B: 你这就急了？
Nǐ zhè jiù jí le?
Having been irritated so soon?
. Request
(for
information)
(Counter)
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
讲不过理就硬给别人安粉。
Jiǎng bù guò lǐ, jiù yìng gěi biérén ānfěn.
Otherwise (you) wouldn’t have desperately labeled your
opponent as a ‘brainless fan’, when being at a
disadvantage in an argument.
Complain
有些人那真的是严于律人，宽于律己，
Yǒuxiē rén nà zhēnde shì yányúlǜrén, kuānyúlǜjǐ,
Here we have somebody who is picky about others but
lenient to themselves.
Opine
您没造假您给社会做什么贡献了。
Nín méi zàojiǎ, nín gěi shèhuì zuò shénme gòngxiàn le?
Indeed, you (nin)did not fake your degree, but what have
you (nin)contributed to society?
Request (for
information)
还是您个人有什么不得了的能力吗？
Háishì nín gèrén yǒu shénme bùdéliǎo de nénglì ma?
Or do you (nin)have some extraordinary abilities?
Request (for
information)
A: [退出对话]
[Withdraws from the talk]
Aer A claims that Celebrity Z has sold his fabricated public persona through
an Initiating Opine, B and A Counter each other on various occasions, using
Requests (for information) and Opines. Although this part of the exchange is cen-
tred on the other party’s understanding of what ‘selling public persona’ involves,
in line A escalates the conict through an Opine: he discredits B by imitating
that B calls his idol ‘older brother’ in a baby-like voice (giegie for the standard
word gége 哥哥). By so doing, he implicates that it is meaningless to argue with
B who is a fan of Celebrity Z. This downgrading of B clearly triggers disagree-
ment: in line B realises a ‘non-innocent’ (i.e. loaded) Request-for-information in
a mocking tone, followed by a Complain, asking whether A has become irritated
so soon that he is unable to do anything else but oending the other in a debate.
Here two nin-s co-occur with the Requests-for-information, clearly adding to its
mocking tone.
Another type of Request that becomes relevant is Request-(not)-to-do-x.
While Request-for-information is oen formulated in rhetorical questions in our
data, Request-(not)-to-do-x oen takes the form of imperatives. Consider Exam-
ple ():
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
() [Context: This episode was extracted from commentaries following a microblog
about an anorexic female. It was reported that this female with a bodyweight of
105-jin (52.5 kgs) went on a strict diet and became anorexic and passed away
suddenly. In the following episode, User A comments on this female’s weight, and
A’s comment is then strongly opposed by User B.]
A: 斤不是挺好的嘛， 肉肉的又不
胖。
Yībǎilíngwǔ jīn bùshì tǐnghǎo de ma,
ròuròu de yòu bù pàng.
Isn’t jin pretty good? Chubby but not
tubby.
. Request (for information)
Opine (Initiate)
B: 斤明明很瘦了。
Yībǎilíngwǔ jīn míngmíng hěnshòu le.
A -jin girl is obviously slim.
. Opine (Counter)
还肉肉的？
Hái ròuròu de?
Why chubby?
Request (for information)
您可闭嘴吧别误导别人了。
Nín kě bìzuǐ ba, bié wùdǎo biérén le.
you (nin)shut up. Stop posting
misleading information.
Request ([not]-to-do-x)
A: 凭什么让我闭嘴？
Píng shénme ràngwǒ bìzuǐ?
Why should I be told to shut up?
. Complain (Counter)
你自己管好自己就好。
Nǐ zìjǐ guǎn hǎo zìjǐ jiùhǎo.
Mind your own business only.
Request-to-do x
B: 真是畸形审美的肤浅之流！
Zhēnshi jīxíng shěnměi de fūqiǎn zhī liú!
What a supercial guy with deformed
aesthetics!
. Opine (Counter)
A: 神经病吧你。
Shénjīngbìng ba nǐ.
What a nut you are.
. Complain (Counter)
B: [退出对话]
[Withdraws from the interaction]
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
A initially evaluates the female described in the microblog as ‘chubby’ (ròuròu
de 肉肉的) but not ‘tubby’ (pàng 胖) in an Opine, which is Countered with
another Opine and a follow-up Request (for information) by B who nds the
word ‘chubby’ oensive. In line , the disagreement intensies through various
Requests. Nin here contributes to intensifying the disagreement as it adds a mock-
ing tone to the Request ‘shut up’. This utterance triggers a Complain from A who
also reminds B to ‘mind his own business’, and it is followed by an Opine and
another Complain.
Uses of nin in disagreement: Congratulate
The third type of speech act in which the V pronoun nin occurs is Congratulate.
Here, we dene Congratulate as follows:
[Congratulate] is called for whenever the addressee has achieved some success,
goal, or had good fortune, or if the addressee has any characteristics worth prais-
(House and Kádár , )ing (‘complimenting’).
Following Edmondson and House () and Edmondson et al. (), we argue
that Congratulate encompasses not only compliments but also ritual congratula-
tion. Although Congratulate may conventionally be unexpected in disagreement,
it transpires from our data that in fact Congratulate frequently occurs in online
instances of disagreement. In such cases, the function of Congratulation is trans-
formed into a mocking-Congratulate. Consider Example ().
() [Context: This is another episode drawn from commentaries on the microblog
about Celebrity Z who had falsied his academic degree (see above). While in
the commentaries fans of the celebrity absolved him from blame, insisting that
he is an outstanding inuencer whose merits outweigh his error, many other
users did not accept this – like User A in the following episode.]
A: 名人Z哪里优秀了，你告诉我。
Míngrén Z nǎli yōuxiù le, nǐ gàosù wǒ.
Could any of you tell me in what sense Celebrity Z is
outstanding?
. Request
(for
information)
(Initiate)
B: 日薪几十块说日薪几百几千万人不优秀，他确实不优
秀，他就是能让别人买他东西蹲他直播间，
Rìxīn jǐshí kuài shuō rìxīn jǐbǎi jǐqiān wàn rén bù yōuxiù,
tā quèshí bù yōuxiù, tā jiùshì néng ràng biérén mǎi tā
dōngxī, dūn tā zhíbōjiān,
A person who earns a few dozens of yuan per day said that
a person with a daily salary of tens of millions of yuan is
not excellent. He is really not that good, but he can make
. Tell
(Satisfy)
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
people support his livestreaming e-commerce and buy the
goods he promotes.
你哪里优秀？
Nǐ nǎli yōuxiù?
In what sense are you outstanding?
Request (for
information)
(Initiate)
A: 日薪不是几十块，大概率比你拿得多，
Rìxīn bùshì jǐshí kuài, dà gàilǜ bǐ nǐ ná de duō,
My daily salary is not a few dozens of yuan. It’s very
possibly higher than yours.
. Tell
(Counter)
Opine
你气不气？
Nǐ qì bù qì?
Aren’t you irritated?
Request (for
information)
B: 怎么会气呢？哥哥这么优秀？我高兴还来不及呢。
Zěnme huì qì ne, gēge zhème yōuxiù, wǒ gāoxìng hái láibùjí
ne.
How could I be irritated? You my bro are so outstanding. I
can’t be more happy.
. Opine
(Counter)
Congratulate
A: 我不需要孝子，谢谢你了。
Wǒ bù xūyào xiàozǐ, xièxie nǐ le.
I don’t need a dutiful junior. Thanks a lot.
. Opine
(Counter)
Thank
B: 不客气，
Bù kèqì,
Not at all.
. Minimise
(Satisfy)
您真优秀啊，跟您这样优秀的人说话真是如沐春风茅
塞顿开了，
Nín zhēn yōuxiù a, gēn nín zhèyàng yōuxiù de rén shuōhuà
zhēnshì rúmùchūnfēng máosèdùnkāi le,
you (nin)are so excellent. Talking to an excellent person
like you (nin)makes me so delighted as if I am bathing in
the spring wind and suddenly enlightened.
Congratulate
(Initiate)
希望现实生活的您生活也能跟网上生活一样。
Xīwàng xiànshí shēnghuó de nín shēnghuó yě néng gēn
wǎngshàng shēnghuó yīyàng.
I hope that you (nin)can have your real life as nice as your
online one.
Opine
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
A: 现实中我好的很。
Xiànshí zhōng wǒ hǎodehěn.
I live a really good life in reality.
. Tell
(Counter)
B: 虽然没人在意，但是还是希望您别逞强了呢。自己过
得怎么样自己清楚就好，不用告诉别人呢。
Suīrán méirén zàiyì, dànshì háishì xīwàng nín bié
chěngqiáng le ne. Zìjǐ guò de zěnmeyàng zìjǐ qīngchǔ jiùhǎo,
bùyòng gàosù biérén ne.
Though no one cares, I still hope that you (nin)can be less
conceited. It suces to know how it is going by oneself. No
need to tell others.
. Opine
(Initiate)
A: [退出对话]
[Withdraw from the talk]
Here, two interactants disagree on whether Celebrity Z is excellent or not. While
A Initiates the interaction with a ‘non-innocent’ Request-for-information, imply-
ing that Celebrity Z is not outstanding at all, B Satises this Request with a Tell
by expressing his opposition to this view. When B ‘throws back’ a ‘tit-for-tat’
Request by parroting A’s Request and asking in what sense A is outstanding in
line , the bone of contention tends to move from the celebrity to the interactants
themselves. In view of A’s loaded Countering Opine and his deliberately deant
Request-for-information asking whether B is oended, B in line realises a Coun-
tering Opine, by saying in a mocking way that he is not irritated but rather happy.
He Congratulates A for his earning much and being ‘outstanding’, addressing him
with the quasi-familiar form of address ‘my bro’.7B seems to have reached a com-
promise with A at this point. However, his recurrent use of nin in posts upholds
the mocking tone of his Congratulate.
One point worth mentioning is that six out of eight episodes featuring sym-
metrical uses of nin include mutual Congratulates between the interactants. Con-
sider () below where both interactants switch from ni to nin while
‘non-innocently’ Congratulating one another.
() [Context: This episode was drawn from commentaries on a microblog involving
a eulogy to one’s father. In the microblog, Celebrity Y deeply mourned the pass-
ing away of his father. In the commentaries, most users were deeply moved by
the son’s love for his father, expressing their condolences to the celebrity and his
. Note that ‘my bro’ here is used as a generalised kinship term to call the non-kin addressee
(i.e., User A) by, rather than a designative to speak of User B’s own brother. This is because in
Chinese one can address others in the third person.
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
family. However, there were also users such as User B in the following episode
making caustic comments, i.e., accusing the celebrity of hypocritically playing
along on a public platform in order to take up his father’s heritage justiably.]
A: 父慈子孝，令人动容啊。
Fùcí zǐxiào, lìngrén dòngróng a.
Kind father and lial son. Quite touching.
. Opine (Initiate)
B: 哈哈，不哭卖力一点怎么多分家产？
Hāha, bù kū màilì yīdiǎn, zěnme duō fēn jiāchǎn?
Haha, how can he obtain more heritage if he
doesn’t cry hard?
. Request (for
information)
(Counter)
A: 这种场合说这种话不怕遭报应吗？
Zhèzhǒng chǎnghé shuō zhèzhǒng huà, bùpà
zāobàoyìng ma?
Aren’t you afraid of the retribution for saying such
things on this occasion?
. Request (for
information)
(Counter)
黑子很多，但就你没有心。
Hēizi hěnduō, dàn jiù nǐ méiyǒu xīn.
There are many anti-fans, but you’re the only one
who is heartless.
Opine
B: 这么敷衍的表演也就骗骗你这种傻子。
Zhème fūyǎn de biǎoyǎn yě jiù piànpiàn nǐ
zhèzhǒng shǎzi.
Such a perfunctory acting can only deceive fools
like you.
. Opine (Counter)
A: 就您不是傻子，您全网最厉害呢。
Jiù nín bùshì shǎzi, nín quánwǎng zuì lìhài ne.
you (nin)are the only one who is not foolish. you
(nin)are the best of this cyber world.
. Congratulate
(Counter)
B: 那也不如您有心啊，
Nà yě bùrú nín yǒuxīn a,
But I’m not as caring as you (nin)are.
. Congratulate
(Counter)
快去帮着哭吧。
kuàiqù bāngzhe kū ba.
Go and wail.
Suggest
A: 您这么聪明，
Nín zhème cōngmíng,
You (nin)are so smart,
. Congratulate
(Counter)
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
我这个傻子不敢造次啊。
wǒ zhègè shǎzi bùgǎn zàocì a.
my humble self is such a fool.
Opine
In line , A realises an Opine about the celebrity. In line , B Counters A’s Opine
with a Request for information, which is then Countered by B with another
Request for information and an Opine, followed by an Opine by B in line . In
line , A realises two Congratulates accompanied by nin. These Congratulates are
‘non-innocent’, i.e., mocking in tone, considering that the two users are in a con-
ict. In line , B responds with another Congratulate, hence engaging in an ironic,
mocking exchange of Congratulates, and also he uses nin in this response. In
line , A follows the mocking style adopted and reciprocates with another Con-
gratulate including nin.
. Conclusion
In this paper, we have shown that the Chinese second-person V pronoun nin can
be used to express disagreement. We argued that such uses can even be described
as conventionalised because quantitative evidence shows that in certain contexts
such uses of nin frequently occur. This nding allows us to re-examine the o-
held view that the V pronoun nin is a ‘deferential one’. While indeed indicating
deference is the default function of nin, this pronoun is not ‘exotic’: just like any
other V pronoun, it aords dierent pragmatic uses. This ies to the face of what
has been argued in most previous studies dedicated to nin.
In the research presented in this paper, we distributed a Discourse Comple-
tion Test (DCT) to Chinese participants and took into account the two variables
of age and mode of interaction. The elicited responses pointed to the existence of
cross-cultural dierences between nin and V pronouns in other languages. The
use of nin seems to be pragmatically constrained in that its usages in scenarios
involving disagreement seem to be preferred mainly in online settings and by
members of the younger generations in the Chinese linguaculture. These prag-
matic characteristics of nin may be related to the broader diachronic development
of T/V pronouns in Chinese (see Pan and Kádár ). That is, it is likely that
speakers of Chinese, especially those from the older generations, are ‘reluctant’
to use the V form nin in face-to-face disagreement, owing to the relatively rigid
conventions of using this form in spoken colloquial Chinese. In the language use
of members of younger generations, deferential forms like nin can take on ‘new’
pragmatic meanings, in particular in online settings where such usages occur in
anonymous exchanges.
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
To explore recurrent patterns of use where nin is embedded in disagreement,
we examined online data drawn from Weibo. Our analysis has shown that nin
frequently co-occurs with the speech acts of Opine, Request and Congratulate
embedded in the interactional moves of Counter and Contra. What distinguishes
such usages from the default deferential use of nin is that in all such cases nin is
used in a pointedly ironic way. The fact that most uses of nin are asymmetric in
our data, i.e., usually one side uses a mocking nin while the other responds with
the T form ni to such challenges also shows that nin in this situated online con-
vention is not interpreted as a form of deference.
The use of the Chinese V form nin needs to be further explored in future
research. For instance, our study included only CMC data drawn from Chinese
social media. Future inquiries may include a wider range of data from both online
and oine settings, in order to further investigate the complex sociopragmatic
scope of uses of nin and ni in scenarios involving disagreement. Also, in future
research it would be useful to systematically compare such usages of nin with
comparable uses of V pronouns in other languages.
Funding
Research funded by National Research, Development and Innovation Oce of Hungary
(TKP-NKTA) to Dániel Zoltán Kádár and Juliane House.
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Appendix Our Discourse Completion Tasks
基本信息
Background Information
请问您属于以下哪个年龄组：
Which age group do you belong to?
- -
. 某微博账户发布了一条新闻，报道了一起发生在你家乡X地的诈骗案，在该新闻下
方的评论区中，一位陌生网友抨击了你的家乡及家乡人民。对此，你感到非常不
满，于是你回复该网友道：
A microblogger posts a piece of news about a fraud case in your hometown X. In the com-
ments section, a person who you do not know harshly criticises your hometown and its
people. You feel unhappy about this, so you respond to this user:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你所就读的B大学因某处校园美景登上网络新闻头条，一位陌生网友对此表示不
屑，认为B大学专业水平不高，仅靠花边新闻博取眼球。对此，你感到非常不满，
于是你回复该网友道：
University B where you are studying or studied has made online news headlines for its
beautiful campus. A user who you do not know comments on the campus with disdain.
This user claims that your university is unprofessional, and it makes use of its campus sim-
ply to grab attention. You feel unhappy about this, so you respond to this user:
_____________________________________________________________________
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
. 一则微博报道了某名校博士选择于某市中学就任老师的新闻，一位自称专科毕业
陌生网友在评论区辱骂了该博士，认为其浪费了教育资源，甚至不如自己。对
此，你感到非常不满，于是你回复该网友道：
A microblog reports that a Ph.D. graduate of a prestigious university has chosen to become
a middle school teacher in a particular city. In the comments section below this microblog,
a person who you do not know claims to be a junior college student and he makes negative
comments on this Ph.D. graduate. He claims that the graduate has wasted educational
resources and is stupid. You feel unhappy about this, so you respond to this user:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 某网红发布了一条微博哀悼亡父，一位陌生网友在评论区内辱骂该网红及其亡
父。对此，你感到非常不满，于是你回复该网友道：
A social media inuencer mourns his late father in a microblog. A person who you do not
know abuses this inuencer and his late father in the comments section. You feel unhappy
about this, so you respond to this user:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你乘坐公交出行，你身旁的乘客希望与你调换位置，但你以更想坐在靠窗座位为
由拒绝了对方。被拒后，该乘客严辞批评你素质低下，对此，你感到非常不满，
于是你对该乘客说道：
You are traveling by bus. A passenger who is sitting next to you wishes to switch seats with
you. You refuse him on the grounds that you would prefer to have a window seat. Aer
being refused, the passenger argues that you are bad-mannered. You feel unhappy about
this, so you say to this passenger:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你排队购买早餐，一位陌生市民以赶时间为由强行插队，并对周围劝诫他的顾客
恶语相向。你对此感到非常不满，于是你对该市民说道：
You are queuing for breakfast. A customer who do you not know forces his way into the
queue. He argues with others who remind him that he should wait like others. You feel
unhappy about this, so you say to this person:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你正在快餐店就餐，一位陌生顾客将热汤溅在了你新买的白色鞋子上，但该顾客
态度高傲，拒绝向你道歉。对此，你感到非常不满，于是你对该顾客说道：
You are eating in a fast-food restaurant. A customer who you do not know spills hot soup
on your new white shoes. He refuses to apologise. You feel unhappy about this, so you say
to this customer:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你出门散步，路遇一男子当街辱骂一位拾荒老人，称其影响市容市貌。对此，你
感到非常不满，于是你对该男子说道：
You are out for a walk when you come across a man cursing an old beggar in the street. He
claims that the old beggar is deling a public space. You feel unhappy about this, so you say
to this person:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你遇到挫折后在微信群内向几位好友诉苦，一位好友非但没有安慰你，反而在群
内公然嘲笑你。对此，你感到非常不满，于是你回复该好友道：
You are frustrated and make complains to your friends in a WeChat group. Instead of com-
forting you, one of your friends openly mocks you. You feel unhappy about this, so you
respond to this friend:
_____________________________________________________________________
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
. 一位好友发布一则微信朋友圈，称你的工作单位层次太低，并借此炫耀自己的工
作单位水准高。对此，你感到非常不满，于是你回复该好友道：
Your friend updates his status on his WeChat Moments, claiming that your institution is
an inferior one, and brags about the high quality of his own university. You feel unhappy
about this, so you respond to this friend:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你参加了单位举办的绘画比赛，某日你在微信朋友圈内为自己的作品宣传拉票，
一位平时关系不错的同事在评论区留言，表示你的画作不如另外一位同事，故他
不会投票给你。对此，你感到非常不满，于是你回复该同事道：
You have participated in a painting competition organised by your institution. One day,
you create a painting which you upload to your WeChat Moments. A colleague who gets
along well with you posts a negative comment. He states explicitly that your painting is not
as good as another colleague’s, and so he will not vote for you in the competition. You feel
unhappy about his direct and rude comment, so you respond to this colleague:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你在微信群内与几位好友闲聊时表达了对偶像的崇拜之情，其中一位好友则表达
了对该明星的厌恶之情，暗示了对该明星的粉丝的不屑。对此，你感到非常不
满，于是你在群内回复该好友道：
You express your admiration for an idol of yours when chatting with several of your friends
in a WeChat group. One of your friends expresses his disgust of your idol, implying that
he disdains the fans of this idol. You feel unhappy about this, so you respond to him:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你在食堂排队打饭，听到两位好友大声议论你新买的衣服太过时。对此，你感到
非常不满，于是你对好友说道：
You are in the canteen queue for your dinner when you hear two of your best friends
talking loudly about your new clothes. They think your clothes are too outdated. You feel
unhappy about this, so you say to your friends:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你的室友未经你的同意使用了你的吹风机，不慎将其损坏。面对你的质疑，该舍
友非但毫无歉意，反而吐槽你为人小气，斤斤计较。对此，你感到非常不满，于
是你对室友说道：
Your roommate used your hairdryer without your consent and accidentally damaged it.
When you ask him about this, he refuses to apologise. Instead, he complains that you are
stingy and calculating. You feel unhappy about this, so you say to your roommate:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你来到办公室，撞见一位平时与你关系较好的同事正在向其他同事说你的坏话。
对此，你感到非常不满，于是你对该同事说道：
You come to the oce and bump into a colleague who gets along well with you. But he is
now gossiping about you in front of other colleagues. You feel unhappy about this, so you
say to this colleague:
_____________________________________________________________________
. 你回到宿舍，发现你的舍友正在玩手机游戏，而此前他慌称自己卧病在床，并请
你代其值日。对此，你感到非常不满，于是你对该舍友说道：
You return to your dormitory only to nd your roommate playing mobile games. Earlier,
he lied to you, saying that he was sick in bed. He asked you to take his place on duty. You
feel unhappy about this, so you say to your roommate:
_____________________________________________________________________
Beyond the deferential view of the Chinese V pronoun nin 您[]
Peking University Library (id22136091) IP: 222.29.55.36 On: Fri, 17 Nov 2023 03:06:14
Address for correspondence
Hao Liu
Hefei University of Technology
Danxia Road
Hefei
China
Lenaliu@foxmail.com
Biographical notes
Dániel Z. Kádár (MAE, D.Litt, FHEA, PhD) is Ordinary Member of Academia Europaea,
Chair Professor, PhD Supervisor and Director of Centre for Pragmatics Research at Dalian
University of Foreign Languages, China, Research Professor at HUN-REN Hungarian Research
Centre for Linguistics, and Professor of English Linguistics at University of Maribor. He is
author of many books, published with publishing houses of international standing such as
Cambridge University Press. He is co-editor of Contrastive Pragmatics: A Cross-Disciplinary
Journal. His research interests include pragmatics, applied linguistics, foreign language learning
and teaching, Chinese linguistics, linguistic politeness research and discourse analysis.
Juliane House received her PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Toronto and
Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Jyväskylä and Jaume I, Castellon. She is Professor
Emerita at Hamburg University, Professor at the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Centre for
Linguistics, and Distinguished University Professor at Hellenic American University, Nashua,
NH, USA and Athens, Greece. She is co-editor of Contrastive Pragmatics: A Cross-Disciplinary
Journal, and Past President of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural
Studies. Her research interests include applied linguistics, translation, foreign language learning
and teaching, contrastive pragmatics, discourse analysis, linguistic politeness research and Eng-
lish as a global language. She published widely in all these areas.
Hao Liu received her PhD in Applied Linguistics from Nanjing University. Her research inter-
ests are (im)politeness, and Chinese media discourse analysis.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9163-1523
Publication history
Date received: February
Date accepted: July
Published online: November
[] Dániel Z. Kádár, Juliane House and Hao Liu
