The Study Of Adverbial Postposition In Changsha Dialect

Changsha dialect is a typical representative of Xiang dialect. This thesis focuses mainly on adverbial postposition in Changsha dialect. On the basis of the sufficient original document achieved by the deep investigation of dialects and referring to the current related achievements on special word order, the thesis describes and analyzes the postpositive adverbials of Changsha dialect. Besides, we described, explained and concluded this phenomenon through the multi-angle and the multi-level ways, after replying to many kinds of language-researched theories and methods, such as the "three planes" theory, comparative analysis, etc. We believed that this thesis enriched the grammatical study of Changsha dialect and it also carried some referential meaning and values by contributing to the revealing of the special word orders and grammatical characteristics of Hunan dialects.The paper is divided into four sections.The first section is a general introduction in which the purpose and meaning of the researching essay as well as its research methods and procedures were presented. It also summarized the predecessor’s achievements on the study of postpositive adverbials in standard Chinese and various dialects, especially in the research of Changsha dialect. At last, it pointed out the resource of linguistic materials used in the paper. Chapter2is the centerpiece of this thesis, with an introduction of the geography and culture of Changsha, and the way the Changsha dialect is used. Then we made a definition of adverbials and delimited it. Next, the thesis describes in detail the four scenarios of adverbial postposition in the Changsha dialect, respective characteristics of their usage, and how they are different from the usage of similar complements by comparison. In addition, it compares the Changsha dialect with other Xiang dialect variants and dialects used within Hunan province, such as the Southwest Mandarin, and, after analyzing a large number of sample sentences, came to the conclusion that, with the exception of a few auxiliary words and end-of-sentence modal particles, they have maintained strong consistency in syntax formality, usage, and expression. We can say that adverbial postposition in the Changsha dialect is representative of this kind of special word ordering in the Xiang dialect. Finally a simple comparison was made with the adverbial postposition in the Mandarin dialect.Chapter3analyzed the semantic orientation of adverbial postposition in the Changsha dialect, and concluded that there are two:oriented towards predicate, subject and predicate. It also briefly analyzed the semantic orientation of adverbial postposition in other Hunan dialects.In the fourth section, the thesis analyzed pragmatic functions of the postpositive adverbials in Changsha dialects, finding out that three major functions came out with the adoption of it, they are as:the focus of a sentence—emphasizing the important information, the relocation of the information components—arrange the new information and explaining as complements. In the last part, a summary of the thesis was made. As for the functions of postpositive adverbials, the other Hunan dialects are similar with Changsha dialect.The last part is the conclusion. It summarizes the overall conclusions and innovation of the thesis, points out the prospects and the lack of the thesis.