Mismatched Modification In Chinese And English: A Grammatical Metaphor Perspective

The dissertation, under the framework of grammatical metaphor (GM), exploresthe mismatched modification in Chinese and English with special reference to theirlinguistic forms, cognitive mechanisms and social functions. The mismatchedmodification is a kind of linguistic phenomena characteristic of inconformity betweenform and meaning in terms of modification, which belongs to grammatical metaphordefined as cross coupling between semantic and lexical-grammatical strata in SFG.The current GMstudy is confined to nominalizations or the shift between nounsand verbs.The dissertation expands the domain of GM and focuses on the shift ofmodifiers between nouns and verbs. The research is conducted from the perspectiveof the three metafunctions of language. In addition, it incorporates the methods andfindings of cognitive linguistics. The study of ideational function incorporatesthestudy of image schema, metaphor and metonymy, and conceptual blending. The studyof interpersonal function incorporates subjectivity. The study of textual functionincorporates the theory of iconicity.Mismatched modification consistsof two types, the mismatched adverbials andmismatched attributes. Mismatched adverbials can be further divided into subjectoriented adverbials and objected oriented adverbials. Mismatched attributes can befurther divided into downward rank-shift type andnon-shift type.Mismatched adverbials involve a series of variations in the three metafunctions.As to the ideational function, the permanent attributes are replaced by temporaryconditions. Related to the interpersonal function, when the argument modifierstransform to predicate modifiers, the appraisal meaning and subjectivity of the clausehave been enhanced. Related to the textual function, the mismatched adverbialsbecome the focus and the most salient part of the clause, and consequently they can beprocessed by the listener earlier than the attributes in the congruent form.Mismatched adverbials are most frequently used in literary writings, whilemismatched attributes can be used in a variety of registers except spoken language. Three factors contribute to the stylistic choice of mismodification. First, mismatchedadverbials would meet the descriptive demand of literary writings. Second,mismatched adverbials show high levels of subjectivity, which is contrary to theobjectivity criterion of academic language.Third, as a type of GM, mismatchedadverbials and attributes call for more efforts for comprehension, which does notagree with the realtime processing requirement of spoken language.Similarly, mismatched attributes give rise to semantic variations regarding thethree metafunctions. First, mismatched attributes are part of condensed clauses.Second, the interpersonal function gives way to ideational function in clauses withmismatched attributes. Third, mismatched attributes often reside in the Residue of theclause, since the processing load can be reduced if the semantic head shows up beforethe mismatched attributes.There are three major differences in the use of mismatched modification inEnglish and Chinese. First, in Chineseboth subject and object attributes can shift toadverbials, while in Englishonly the subject attributes can change to adverbials, whichresults from the central use of verbs in Chinese. Second, there are moremismatchedattributes in English than in Chinese. Third, the mismatched attributes in English canbe used in theme as well as in rheme, while in Chinese most mismatched attributesreside in rheme, due to the processing requirements.