List of tables
Abbreviations
Chapter 1. An introduction to the book
1.1. The scope and methodology
1.2. Main proposals
1.3. An overview of the book
Chapter 2. A refined Centering Theory
2.1. A brief introduction
2.2. Essential notions
2.2.1. Center
2.2.2. Utterance
2.2.3. Discourse segment
2.3. Basic constraints and rules
2.4. Some notorious problems
2.4.1. A unique Cb vs. Cb branching
§2.4.2. Realization
2.4.3. The role of Constraint
2.4.4. Discourse coherence vs. semantic entity salience
2.5. Hu and Pan (2002) revisited
2.6. The application of Centering Theory in natural language processing
2.6.1. Anaphoric resolution—pronoun production vs. pronoun interpretation
2.6.2. Brennan, Friedman, and Pollard's (1987) approach
2.6.3. Strube’s (1998) approach
2.6.4. Tetreault’s (1999, 2001) approach
2.7. Interim summary
Chapter 3. A Centering analysis of discourse with Chinese bei passive
3.1. A general data presentation—discourse with Chinese bei passive
3.2. The contribution of bei utterance to discourse coherence
3.2.1. A scrutiny on each Cb transition state
3.2.2. The discourse function of bei utterances
3.2.3. A comparison with Givón’s (1983) tradition
3.3. A reflection of the syntactic analysis towards long vs. short bei passive
3.3.1. An introduction to the long vs. short passive debate
3.3.2. What can discourse analysis tell us about syntax?
3.4. Centering Theory revisited
3.5. Interim summary
Chapter 4. A centering analysis of Chinese disposal ba construction
4.1. A general data presentation
4.2. The contribution of ba utterance to discourse coherence
4.2.1. Combinations starting with CONTINUATION
4.2.2. Combinations starting with RETAIN
4.2.3. Combinations starting with SHIFT
4.2.4. Interim summary
4.3. Is ba construction antipassive?Antipassive in ergative languages—definition and features of antipassive
4.3.2. Functions of antipassive
4.3.3. Classification of antipassive
4.3.4. Antipassive vs. passive
4.3.5. Is ba construction antipassive?
4.4. Interim summary
4.4.1. A summary of the chapter
4.4.2. Some hints on Cf ranking of ba utterance
Chapter 5. Ranking of forward-looking centers in Chinese
5.1. The ranking of forward-looking centers in different languages
5.2. A proposal of Cf ranking in Chinese discourse
5.2.1. Rationale of the study
5.2.2. An overview of data
5.2.3. Ba utterance
5.2.4. Gei utterance
5.2.5. Fang utterance
5.2.6. Bei utterance
5.3. Interim summary
Chapter 6. The influence of temporality interpretation on discourse coherence
6.1. Modes of discourse
6.2. Time reference relation in temporal modes
6.3. How is temporal information conveyed in Chinese?
6.4. A comparison among narrative, report, and description
6.4.1. General data overview
6.4.2. A comparison among three temporal modes of discourse
6.5. Accounting for the difference
6.6. Interim summary
Chapter 7. Concluding remarks
7.1. Refinement to Centering Theory
7.2. Main findings and contributions
7.3. Further issues
Bibliography
Appendix I
Appendix II