Study On Ellipsis Of Modal Particle "了"

Function words are important grammar elements in Chinese. The modal particle"了"(abbreviation for"了2") is one of the most frequently used function words. It is hard to grasp the"了"in Chinese linguistic s tudies and Chinese as Second Language Teaching due to its rich meanings, the plethora of diverse clause patterns it forms with other words, and the elusive conditions under which it is applied."了2"could be added or subtracted according to the circumstances. The use and ellipsis of"了"seems complicated and doesn't follow any apparent rules. The reason is that the word doesn't function solely as a tool to convey meaning. There are several factors that can affect the ellipsis of"了2", including semantics, context, word function, syllable, the different requirements of written language and oral language , and sentence patterns. The analysis of these factors will help us resolve the puzzle of"了2".The purpose of this research is to find the rules of using or deleting"了2"and to describe them systematically on three dimensions: semantic, grammar and pragmatic. Thus I collected and analyzed numerous papers on this topic published in the recent years, trying to figure out what the research achieved so far. In chapter 2, I analyze how the relevant factors (semantic, context of words, word function, syllables, the different requirement of written language and oral language, sentence patterns) affect the change of"了2". I then conduct comprehensive case studies, pointing out the inner relation of the elements mentioned above. Adapting the distribution theory from Structural linguistics, the thesis recognizes the semantic distribution of"了2", clarifies its connotation and extension, and draws a conclusion about the grammar patterns of "了2". Also discussed is how the content of words in a sentence condition the characteristics of the ellipsis of"了2". The topic is viewed through linguistic theories such as bounded, unbounded and grammar metonymy. The thesis pointed out that from the pragmatic perspective,"了2"often functions to emphasize key information in the sentence . The ellipsis of"了2"shows that "keep it simple rather than complicated" has always been a pragmatic rule. In chapter 3-8, the thesis singles out six types of semantic variants of"了2", investigates the sentence pattern it applies to, and explores the laws of ellipsis according to different pragmatics. Also, the research pays attention to other grammar factors, such as predicates, adverbials and complements, all of which appear with"了2"in sentences, as they interact with and condition"了2".Certain methods were applied to the thesis: corpus statistics and analysis, semantic analysis, linguistic displacement, comparative linguistics, linguistic layer analysis and conversion analysis etc.The examination provides a deeper analysis of the modal particle"了2"to Chinese linguistic researchers and offers valuable insights to Chinese as second language teaching, comparative linguistics, Chinese translation and linguistic typology as well.