Grammaticalization Of Passive Markers In Modern Chinese

Grammaticalization is a process whereby a lexical item evolves into a grammatical one or a grammatical item itself assumes even more grammatical meaning in contexts. Previous researches on grammaticalization shed light on formal changes of various linguistic units, such as morpheme, lexicon, syntax, discourse, etc., but have seldom touched upon the pragmatic field. Moreover, the relation between semantic change and grammatical variation needs to be further clarified in grammaticalization process. In this thesis, grammaticalization is deemed to be initially triggered by generalization of semantic meaning in a specific context. It is undeniable that pragmatic factors play an important role in grammaticalization.This thesis purports to account for grammaticalization of modern Chinese passive markers from a pragmatic perspective, with an aim to address the following three issues:(a) What are the pathways of changes with respect to passive markers Bei, Jiao, Rang and Gei in the process of grammaticalization?(b) How are semantic change and grammatical variation mutually related in the process of grammaticalization?(c) How does pragmatic enrichment initiate and promote the grammaticalization of these passive markers in specific contexts?Focusing on these issues, this thesis will integrate pragmatic enrichment with grammaticalization as theoretical basis and propose the three stages of grammaticalziation for a detailed analysis of passive markers in modern Chinese.Pragmatic enrichment refers to a process whereby language users adjust semantic meaning of a lexicon in a specific context so as to interpret utterances properly. From a diachronic perspective, when a lexical item undergoes a process of grammaticalization, its semantic meaning gets to be weakened while the grammatical meaning is constantly strengthened. Pragmatic enrichment is involved here on both semantic and grammatical meanings. It is argued that pragmatic enrichment, as a mechanism behind grammaticalization, can properly account for semantic change and grammatical variation at the syntactic-semantic level.Modern Chinese passive markers are divided fourfold:Bei, Jiao, Rang and Gei. The thesis intends to conduct a detailed analysis of the grammaticalization of each of these passive markers in light of pragmatic enrichment. It is observed that passive markers in modern Chinese have gone through a relatively similar pathway of change; pragmatic enrichment in both semantic and grammatcial changes renders the completion of the grammaticalization process.The significance of the research lies in pragmatic account of grammaticalization of modern Chinese words of the same type. Pragmatic enrichment, as a mechanism behind grammaticalization, closely links up with semantic change and grammatical variation together. It is quite helpful to deepen researches on grammaticalization. Besides, the tentative application of western linguistic theories to Chinese issues is of great value and enlightenment for future researches on Chinese linguistics.This thesis is totally divided into five parts. Chapter One gives a brief introduction to the issues in question, including the research background, objectives and significance as well as the layout of the paper. Chapter Two relates the definition and categorization of modern Chinese passive markers and reviews the previous researches on grammaticalization and Chinese Bei, Jiao, Rang and Gei in both synchronic and diachronic approaches. Chapter Three seeks to establish the theoretical foundation for the research. Pragmatic enrichment is combined with parameters of grammaticalization in order for a theoretical framework. Besides, a specific integrated model is proposed for the detailed analysis. Chapter Four is the case study of modern Chinese passive markers within the proposed theoretic framework. Chapter Five concludes the thesis by summarizing kernel ideas and major findings, and then pinpointing the limitations of the thesis and finally making some prospects for future researches on the relevant field.