Range Adverbs In Modern Chinese Studies

Present thesis mainly concerns adverbs of scope in modern Chinese language,conducts the detailed analysis on the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic features oftwo subgroups of scope adverbs, i.e. all-inclusive and limitative ones. Besides that,the corresponding conclusions are made about the peculiar grammmaticalizationprocesses and mechanisms of Chinese scope adverbs, based on diachronic analysis oflinguistic material, combined with the synchronic research mentioned above. Finally,through comparative analysis in the context of the usage of scope adverbs in Chineseand Russian languages, present thesis intends to examine universal and differentialfeatures of delivering scope limitation means in the two languages.The first chapter, introduction, provides the brief reference to previousresearches on Chinese adverbs and studies on scope adverbs; defines the object ofresearch of present paper; determines theoretical background, present researchrelies on; explains applied research methods, and the sources of language material.The second chapter describes the syntactic functions of the Chinese all-inclusiveand limitative scope adverbs from the viewpoint of syntactic role and semanticfeatures. A conclusion drawn, is that even though the syntactic role of the scopeadverbs is comparatively uniform, the nature of components capable ofco-occurrence and grouping with the above mentioned adverbs is quite diverse; thisresulting into the situation when syntactic and semantic relations of certain scopeadverbs fail to coincide. Besides, present thesis also conducts a research on patternsof semantic orientation of scope adverbs.The third chapter, proceeding from the subgroup division between all-inclusiveand limitative scope adverbs, investigates the principles of successive usage of thescope adverbs within, as well as between, corresponding subgroups. After that,special attention is paid to the pragmatic effect delivered by the reduplication of thescope adverbs. Finally, a research on the possibility of labeled patterns emerging,subject to scope and negative adverbs being used successively, is carried out.The fourth chapter, integrating the theory and mechanisms of grammaticalization, explains the historical origin of Chinese all-inclusive andlimitative scope adverbs, backtracks the grammaticalization processes, and thusderives conclusions on the evolution patterns of the scope adverbs.The fifth chapter is conducting a comparative analysis of two representativeChinese scope adverbs–“DOU”(all-inclusive subgroup) and “ZHI”(limitativesubgroup)–with Russian correspondences“весь”and“только/лишь”from theviewpoint of syntactic functions, semantic features and pragmatic value.The sixth chapter, conclusion, summarizes the contents of present paper, as wellas outlines the direction for the further possible research work.