Using conversation analysis as its research method, this article investigates the interactional function of the particle ba in Mandarin Chinese conversation. It is argued that ba is frequently employed by its speakers to adjust deontic gradients in action sequences of directives in mundane conversation besides its function of adjusting epistemic gradients in certain action sequences. The present study claims that the agent and beneficiary of future action can only distinguish one category of directive actions from another, but each category still constitutes several member actions which contrast with one another in terms of social power. The member actions of each category form a continuum, one end of which is the action with the highest level of social power and the other end of which is the action with the lowest level of social power. There exists a normative relation between each member action of a category and the speaker’s deontic status in the real world. The particle ba is a practice of minutely adjusting the speaker’s deontic stance from a higher position to a lower one.

本文以会话分析为研究方法，考察了汉语普通话会话中助词ba的交互作用。有人认为，ba除了在某些动作序列中调整认知梯度的功能外，它还经常被其说话者用来调整日常对话中指令的动作序列中的道义梯度。本研究认为，未来行动的代理人和受益人只能区分一类指令行为，但每一类仍由若干成员行为构成，在社会权力方面相互对比。每一类的成员行为形成一个连续体，一端是社会权力最高的行为，另一端是社会权力最低的行为。一个范畴的每个成员动作与说话者在现实世界中的道义地位之间存在着规范关系。粒子巴是一种将说话者的道义立场从较高位置微调到较低位置的做法。