Abstract:
This article analyzes dialogues of characters in TV drama as linguistic data to examine the use of negative statements in Chinese language which is adopted for refusal. Refusal expressed through negative statements mainly includes cases where the negation elements
bu or
mei (
you) are used. These refusals can be roughly categorized into direct refusals and indirect ones, and they reflect different refusal strategies. Negative statements with
bu often directly refuse by negating the subjective willingness of the speaker (the refuser), while direct refusals with
bu and indirect refusals through negating premises are relatively less common. Negative statements with
mei (
you have become common idiomatic expressions in Chinese to express refusals, such as
mei kong and
mei xingqu. It is also common to express indirect refusals, by emphasizing objective requirements that are not met, through phrases like
hai mei … ne.