A Comparison Study On The Textual Anaphora Function Of Chinese And Russin Demonstrative Pronouns

Deixis is a universal phenomenon in human languages. It is an important way to connect languages to the real world. Demonstrative pronouns are the oldest and the most basic demonstrating approach. In Chinese and Russian they both have an important function, i.e. anaphora. It means they are the anaphora of the words they substitute. The deixis helps the addressor to express what they have said or are about to say, thus, the text will be concise and comprehensive in rhetoric. More importantly, anaphora will make the texts more compact in structure, and appear unitary.In the extant research on deixis, English has drawn the most attention. I think it is necessary to validate it in Russian. Since deixis is a basic category of language, the comparison of these phenomena will also be necessary in linguistics study. Based on the most ordinary and typical demonstrative pronoun in Chinese and Russian, such as"this","that", this dissertation compares the anaphora function, probing and studying the deeper cultural meaning behind it, to supply some references for the Chinese teaching.This dissertation comprises of four chapters. Chapter One is introduction. It simply introduces the backgrounds, objects and purposes of this study, and it also expresses the value and meaning of it.Chapter Two dwells on the demonstrative pronouns. It presents and compares the definition and system of demonstrative pronouns, drawing a conclusion that, the pronouns in Chinese and Russian includes both close and distant reference. From the point of reference object, I analyses the reason why these two languages are similar in structure but different in function. The reference object is certain, but the range of the demonstration point is not absolute. After comparing the demonstrative pronoun's ranges in Chinese and Russian, I will define the range of"close"and"distant".Chapter Three is a comparing study on anaphora function between Chinese and Russian demonstrative pronouns. This chapter is of the highest importance. The final expression of texts is usually linear. In the most situations, the reference is in front of demonstrative pronouns, but sometimes, it can appear behind them. The former is explicit anaphora, while the latter is implicit anaphora. In Russian the former is forward anaphora, while the latter is backward anaphora. So, this chapter is separated into two parts, in order to compare the function, explore the similarities and differences, and finally, explain the reason.Chapter Four is about the asymmetry between Chinese and Russian demonstrative pronouns. After the research in the former three chapters, we can find that both languages include close and distant reference, but they can't be used as clearly and symmetrically as"far - near". The use of close reference is far more than distant reference. Based on the comparison of syntax and linguistics, I will try to explore the deeper reasons in language and cognition.While examining the linguistic facts, I also emphasize the theoretical and functional use. In this dissertation, I mainly use comparison and induction approach, to search the similarity and difference of demonstrative pronouns like"this","that"between Chinese and Russian. I hope the conclusion will be of universality and practicability in some area.