A Study On "Bieshuo" In Modern Chinese: From Semantic And Functional Perspective

This dissertation aims to study “biéshuō”（别说） in modern Chinese. Eightkinds of functions of “biéshuō”（别说）are summarized. From the semantic view, weanalyze the origins and relations of the eight functions of “biéshuō”（别说）(including phrasal function, verb function, adverb function, conjunction function,pragmatic marker function). In the existing researches, these different variants of“biéshuō”（别说） have been studied isolated from their structures with a bottom-upapproach, and they haven’t been taken as a whole. Although there have been somestudies on their relationships, the main purpose is limited in explaining the origin ofindividual “biéshuō”（别说）, especially the origin of “biéshuō”（别说）as pragmaticmarkers. Therefore, with “biéshuō”（别说）as an example, we start from the origin ofpragmatic marker and take a semantics-driving concept rather than a syntax-drivingconcept, to discuss the interface between the semantics and structure-function aboutlanguage units with a top-down method. Naturally, the semantic analysis plays amajor role in this dissertation.This dissertation consists of seven chapters.Chapter1is introduction. In this chapter, we point out the problem of previousresearch through the analysis of concrete issues. Based on this, we introduce thedirections, values, background theory and methods of this study, as well as thesymbols and corpus sources.Chapter2is theory construction in semantic levels.Firstly, we clarify the terminology in this dissertation, and discuss therelationship between the "signified" and "propositional meaning"（i.e. contents）whichis the foundation of this paper. We regard the "signified" as something more than"propositional meaning". Based on this,"signified" is considered as the sets of different semantic features through systematic comparison with other language unitsin people’s cognition. As to “biéshuō”（别说）, we summarize its "signified" as twocritical semantic features [negation]and [prohibition] by contrast with “biétí”(别提)、“biékàn”(别看) in “biéV”(别V). In real contexts,“biéshuō”（别说）must be realizedone of the eight variants when it is expressed, and the specific meaning results from asemantic feature working on a specific semantic level.Next, we begin to construct the semantic levels. According to the differentpathways of the semantic features, three typical semantic levels are divided: theproposition level, the epistemic level and the meta-language level. Among them, thetypical proposition level is the most direct reflection of the semantic features, so thetypical “propositional meaning” is the initial and the most basic meaning but not all.On this basis, the typical epistemic and meta-language level are formed with thesemantic feature as the starting point: the typical epistemic level is formed bymetonymy in cognitive psychology through pragmatic inference of the semanticfeature which higher than the proposition level; and the meta-language level isformed by “reflexivity” of the semantic feature which is higher than the epistemiclevel. Thus, three typical semantic levels are constructed. We consider that the threesemantic levels are not discrete and there is a continuum among them. On thecontinuum, the atypical meaning of language unit is not single, but rather results fromcooperation of corresponding representations mainly the propositional semanticrepresentation and the cognitive semantic representation. The cognitive semanticrepresentation, as functional meaning, directly relates with function, which meanslanguage unit is considered as the "semantic-function" complex. We analyze theatypical meaning as if analyze its semantic genes. The overall external character ofthe meaning is decided by the different proportion between the two semanticrepresentations so to determine language unit’s attributes of the semantic level and itssyntactic structure, function. As a result, we can combine semantics with structure–function through the analysis of the semantic representations.Chapter3-5take “biéshuō”（别说） as an example to illustrate the semanticlevels theory. We develop the studies of different “biéshuō”（别说） under the framework of the semantic levels theory: the proposition level—epistemic level—meta-language level. The semantic feature [prohibition] act on the proposition level toform “biéshuō1.2”（别说1.2）—“biéshuō2”（别说2）—“biéshuō3”（别说3）—“biéshuō4”（别说4）；The semantic feature [negation] act on the epistemic level toform “biéshuō5（”别说5）—“biéshuō6（”别说6）—“biéshuō7（”别说7）. We comparethe differences of the structure and the function among language units of differentsemantic levels so that the determinative effect of the semantic meaning on the"structure-function" is shown.Chapter3is to study the semantic meanings of “biéshuō”（别说） on theproposition level. Beginning from the typical propositional meanings of verb phrase"biéshuō1.1"（别说1.1） and "biéshuō1.2"（别说1.2）, we analyze these atypicalpropositional meanings.from the low to the high semantic levels: the verb "biéshuō2"（别说2）—the commentary adverb "biéshuō3"（别说3）—the modal adverb"biéshuō4"（别说4）. Every part consists of the research review, description of the“biéshuō”（别说） in semantic, structural and pragmatic features, and explanation oftheir different structures and functions from different semantic levels. We focus on theexplanation parts, which is to explain the origins and the usages of these “biéshuō”（别说） through the semantic analysis. Based on this, we discuss the relationshipsamong these “biéshuō”（别说） on the proposition level as a whole.Chapter4is to study the semantic meanings of “biéshuō”（别说） on theepistemic level. We study the atypical cognitive meaning the conjunction "biéshuō5"（别说5）, the typical cognitive meanings including discourse marker "biéshuō6"（别说6） and stancetaking markers "biéshuō7"（别说7）. Importance is attached toanalyzing the origins of language units on different semantic levels. Through theconcrete analyses, we try to advance the study of construction grammar with thesophisticated reductionism.Chapter5is to study the semantic meaning of “biéshuō”（别说） on themeta-language level. The formation mechanism of the commentary markers"biéshuō8"（别说8） on this level is different from those on other levels. It has beendriven by the "syntax” to evolve in “semantic-function ".We suppose that "biéshuō8" （别说8） has already began to develop towards the interjections.Chapter6is to study the relationships among different “biéshuō”（别说）. Welocate “biéshuō”（别说） of different semantic levels in "semantic-function"two-dimensional coordinate axis, and take the relationships of the eight variants as awhole in analysis. With the comparison to similar phonological conditions varieties,while understanding the common relationships between them, we also highlight thecharacteristics of the semantic levels variants, i.e. the semantic variant on high levelimplies that on low level. Thus, we conclude that the relationship among “biéshuō”（别说） variants is both parallel and implicit. It is a two-dimensional relationship,rather than a linear one starting from propositional meaning, gradually developing asis shown in traditional opinion. We don’t think the relationships among “biéshuō”（别说）variants belong to the typical process of grammaticalization. Thus we rethink andmake further development on identity of words, grammaticalization, subjectivisationand construction grammar theory.Chapter7summarizes the main points in the dissertation. We try to elaborate therelationships among phrases–notional words-function words–pragmatic markersthrough the analyzing “biéshuō”（别说） under the semantic levels framework withtop-down method. Through this study, we provide a new perspective different fromtypical grammaticalization driven by syntax. The merits of this method (with featureof Chinese as a semantic language taking into consideration) as well as theshortcomings and the existing problems are pointed out.