On The Internal Configurations And The External Expressive Functions Of Temporal Words

This dissertation makes a study on temporal words in modern Chinese and its internal configurations and external expressive functions. The thesis focuses on the semantic relations between components of temporal words or between temporal words and other related words.Previous studies on temporal words are static, failing to make analysis on internal and external semantic relations. These studies have neglected to explore the rules of form of the temporal words. Their systematic is poor and no attempts of the analysis on the expressive functions have been made. Thus, the achievements of these studies don't have powerful explanatory abilities and pragmatic value for these language phenomena.The dissertation gives a dynamic analysis on the internal and external semantic relations of temporal words on the basis of the semantic grammar theory and image schema theory of cognitive grammar. It sums up the forming rules of temporal words and describes the grammatical and pragmatic rules of the temporal words.Chapter 1 makes an introduction. Two basic concepts are put forward in this chapter: reflecting time and referential time. The temporal words are defined on the basis of these two basic concepts. This paper gives a functional classification of temporal words: location, calculation, and thing-in-itself temporal words. Corresponding with these three classifications, the temporal words have three expressing functions.Chapter 2 mainly deals with the patterns and rules that decide how the reflecting time converts into the referential time. The patterns of conversion can be marked forms or unmarked forms. The marked forms include naming marker, directional marker, preposition-conjunction marker, and anaphoric marker. The unmarked forms include diachronic conversion and synchronic conversion. The nominal constructions that have the semantic feature of event or mark and that indicate dynasty, holiday, festival; solar terms etc. are very free in the conversion to referential time. Various NP have different ability of conversion. This chapter sums up a continuum after a detailed description. If verbal constructions have the semantic features of movement or change, they can convert easily from reflecting time into referential time. State verbs, quality adjectives, and state adjectives are restricted by various factors in the conversion. This chapter also analyses the restriction of coexistence of verbal constructions and tense auxiliary words "zhe, le, guo", and sums up the interactive relations between semantic features of verbs and the semantic meaning of the "V+T_c/d" frame when they coexist.Chapter 3 mainly deals with internal base mark of temporal words. The previous studies confuse these two concepts base mark and reference. "Base mark" means "a standard that sets the measure of time and the position of time". "Reference" aims to the external function of the temporal words. "Base mark" is the rationale of the meaning of temporal words and the key of understanding their meaning. "Reference" is the anchor point that sets the position of external things and events and an importance factor for perceiving these things and events. The types of time base mark may be classified as meteorological phenomena base marks, artificial base marks, event base marks, experiential base marks, and base marks of utterance time. The inter-dependent temporal words have two types of time base mark: mutual basemark and common base mark. Because various temporal words have different base marks, the temporal words that have similar forms have different meanings and pragmatic values. Based on it, this chapter analyses the differences between "qian (hou) tian (nian)" and "qian (hou ) yi tian (nain)"; "qian + T "and "T + qian"; "qian (hou) +T" and "shang (xia) + T" and gives some reasonable explanations for them. These studies are important for language teaching for foreigners.Chapter 4 mainly deals with the location function of the temporal words. In the situation of realizing location function, the temporal words can take up the position as an attribute o...