Tag: (E) me (particle)

(2000) English (Singapore) – ME, MEH

Wong, Jock Onn (2000). The ‘mE’ particle of Singlish. National University of Singapore Centre for Advanced Studies Research Papers Series, 18, 25 pp.

The non-standard variety of Singapore English commonly known as Singlish has a set of particles the meanings of which have intrigued and also evaded many researchers. These researchers have described the meanings of the particles mostly with a functional approach, in which the functions of a particle under study are listed, and the meaning of the particle characterized in terms of these functions. Results have proved futile. In this paper, the meaning of the Singlish particle ‘mE’ (commonly spelt ‘meh’ elsewhere) is described using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach, which involves corpus study, native speaker introspection, and a reductive paraphrase using semantic primitives to represent the invariant meaning. With this semantic model, the meaning of ‘mE’ can be clearly, precisely, and unambiguously stated in simple English. The semantic formula is shown to be applicable to all instances of use, thus achieving empirical adequacy.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(1991) Chinese (Mandarin) – ME

Chappell, Hilary (1991). Strategies for the assertion of obviousness and disagreement in Mandarin Chinese: A semantic study of the modal particle me. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 11(1), 39-65. DOI: 10.1080/07268609108599451

This paper sets out to provide a semantic analysis of a little-researched modal particle in Mandarin Chinese – me, which occurs structurally in utterance-final position and belongs to a set of discourse markers facilitating both conversational interaction and the expression of a variety of different attitudes on the part of the speaker. The attitudinal value of these markers involves the coding of emotions as varied as surprise, exasperation, indignation and impatience. We provide a semantic analysis of the two distinct but related uses of me in utterance-final position. The two uses distinguished are shown to belong to different contexts and with different pragmatic purposes for the speaker.

The first use does not contain any component of feeling or emotion, but merely asserts a causal link between two propositions to the effect that one was the obvious consequence of the other. This is the modal particle me of an obvious logical connection found in explanatory contexts.

By contrast, the second use of me is shown to have the possibility of expressing a negative emotion such as indignation or impatience which is caused by what the speaker views to be a false opinion or misconception on the part of the addressee or a third party not present. The “true” nature of the matter is asserted by the speaker as self-evident through the use of me. This is the modal particle me of disagreement found in contexts where, for example, speaker and addressee hold opposite views.

It is furthermore shown that the effect of genre on the use of the modal marker me is relevant. The particle me proves to be much less frequent in narrative texts than in conversational ones, a consequence of diminished interaction between speaker and addressee in the narrative form, also affected by the more formal context of one of the narrative corpora. Finally, diachronic considerations are briefly outlined, and the semantic relationship of the interrogative to rhetorical questions and markers of modality such as me is described.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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