FANG Di

Associate Researcher, Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS);

M.A. Supervisor, School of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS).

E-mail: fangdi@cass.org.cn

EDUCATION

2015 – 2018 Ph.D, Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

· Major: Contemporary Chinese Grammar

2017 – 2018 Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles

· Visiting Ph.D. student | Major: Chinese linguistics

EMPLOYMENT

2018 – present Syntax and Semantics Research Office, Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

· Assistant Researcher (2018.7 – 2022.6); Associate Researcher (2022.6 – present)

RESEARCH INTEREST

Contemporary Chinese Grammar; Spoken Pekingese Studies

With the theoretical orientations of Discourse Functional Grammar, Interactional Linguistics, and Corpus Linguistics, I focus on the realistic manifestations of semantic-pragmatic categories in spoken and written Chinese, providing dynamic descriptions and functional explanations for synchronic usages and variation patterns of syntactic structures and functional words. Specifically, based on authentic language use and in relation to discourse organization and social actions, I explore Chinese constructions like copula structure, ‘topic-comment’ flowing sentence, nominal/predicative minor sentence, and pseudo-cleft structure; and such stance-taking and evaluative markers as adverbs, demonstratives, interjections, final particles, pragmatic/discourse markers, etc., so as to reveal how social actions and interactional factors shape morpho-syntactic features in Chinese, and thus deepen the understanding of dialogicity and (inter)subjectivity, shedding light on Chinese language and information processing. In recent years, I focus on morpho-syntatic issues of verb-supplement structures and referentiality and topic continuity in dialogic discourse, exploring how information structure, cognitive factors, and interactional principles can affect linguistic choices across different registers. We also plan to assess the effect of relevant pragmatic factors with cognitive-psychological experiment methods.

PUBLICATION

Books

· Assessment Expressions in Spoken Chinese. April 2021. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.

Papers (last 3 years)

· A Cross-register examination of state complement structures, Zhongguo Yuyan Xuebao Vol. 23, October 2025 (forthcoming). Beijing: The Commercial Press.

· Full and minor types of second assessment: Studying linguistic structures from the perspective of social actions, Chinese Linguistics 3, 2025 (forthcoming).

· A preliminary study of categorizing expressions as assessment formats. Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, 2025 (forthcoming).

· A review of reference research from an interactional perspective. In Xinyang Xie (ed.) Interactional Linguistics: Theory and Method. March 2025, Beijing: China Social Science Press.

· From self-questioning-and-answering to “topic-comment”: A study of monologic telling. Grammar Research and Exploration 22. November 2024, Beijing: The Commercial Press.

· Projection, turn construction, and action recognition: A study on assessment sequence. Contemporary Linguistics 2023 (2): 239-260.

· Particle ma (嘛) in naturally-occurring conversation: Epistemic stance accommodation and its conventionalization. Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies, 2023 (2): 68-79.

· A trialogue on Interactional Linguistics (third author, with Mei Fang and Yao Yue). Macao Journal of Linguistics 2023, 61 (1): 17-29.

· Responses to assessment: Studies from an interactional linguistic perspective. Linguistic Research 33, September 2023. Beijing: Higher Education Press.

· “Form-meaning-function” from interactional perspective: An introduction to the inaugural issue of Interactional Linguistics. In Mei Fang and Jinsheng Shi (eds.) Interactional Linguistics and Studies of Chinese Language 4. October 2023, Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.

· The interactional function of referential form alternation in Mandarin conversation. Studies of the Chinese Language, 2022 (2): 158 – 173.

· Disciplinary review – Discourse Pragmatics Study (second and principal author), Chinese Yearbook of Linguistics 2023, October 2023. Beijing: China Social Science Press.

· Disciplinary review – Discourse Pragmatics Study (second and principal author), Chinese Yearbook of Linguistics 2024, October 2024. Beijing: China Social Science Press.

· Disciplinary review – Discourse Pragmatics Study (second and principal author), Chinese Yearbook of Linguistics 2025, October 2025 (forthcoming). Beijing: China Social Science Press.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

2024.10 – present Project Host, “Study on referential forms selection from an interactional perspective” (24CYY025), Youth Project supported by the National Social Science Fund of China Major Bidding Program.

2020.1 – 2021.12  Project Host, “Research on Assessment Expressions in Spoken Chinese”, Youth Research Initiation Project supported by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2020YQNQD0062).

- Project completed; the evaluation result is ‘Excellent’.

2024 – present  Research position, Key Laboratory of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2024SYZH001).

2024 – 2026    Project Member, first tranche executor, “Inheritance and Development of Chinese Grammar Research”, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Innovation Project.

2021 – 2023   Project Member, second tranche executor, “Thematic Research on Chinese Grammar and the Construction of Disciplinary System”, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Innovation Project.

2020.10 – present  Project Member, “Studies on Chinese Natural Dialogue from the Perspective of Interactional Linguistics” (20&ZD295), Major Project supported by the National Social Science Fund of China Major Bidding Program.

- Sub-project “Studies on Chinese Interjections from Interactional Linguistic Perspective”

2017.7 – 2023.12  Project Member, “Study on Chinese Responsive Tokens from the perspective of Interactional Linguistics”, Youth Project supported by the National Social Science Fund of China Major Bidding Program (17CYY034).

2015 – 2020.4  Project Member, “Multi-dimensional Studies on Mechanism of Pragmatic Markers in Mandarin Chinese”, Key Project supported by the National Social Science Fund of China Major Bidding Program (14AYY015).

- Became a project member in September, 2015; the evaluation result is ‘Good’.