The Study On Nominative Phrasing In Russian And Chinese

This paper is focused on nominal phrasing in Russian and Chinese.Nominal clause is a notion in Russian,which is a special type of sentence structure formed by first case of the noun as the core,the equivalent of which can be found in Chinese as nominal non-subject-predicate clause.Nominal phrasing is a match of form and meaning.In its outside form,nominal phrasing is centered on nouns or noun phrases,and is open to all forms of extensions;whereas in its internal meaning,it indicates the existence of matters,phenomena,or states in a certain time and space,existentiality and descriptiveness are its typical constructive meanings.Nominal phrasing admits all sentences with nouns or noun phrases as its core,while rejecting verbs and predicates in the sentences.The nominal phrasing under study in this paper is focused on Russian nominal phrasing.Russian nominal clause has long been studied in history,since the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century;it has been treated as a specific linguistic research topic.In our country,the research of the "nominal" exists since ancient times,but when it comes to nominal non-subject-predicate clause,the systematic research of which starts late.Throughout time,nominal phrasing has not drawn high degree of attention in the linguistic field.The available nominal phrasing studies mostly focus on the types and specifications of Russian nominal clauses,and on classification and usage of nominal non-subject-predicate clauses;while there is little research based on Russian-Chinese comparative study,and from a more focused research perspective.Usually comparative descriptions are explored within the framework of existentiality clause,discussing more common characteristics,but lack in phenomenological description and explanatory power.This thesis takes the nominal phrasing in modern Russian and Chinese as research topic,aiming to examine from a cross-linguistic viewpoint the common characteristics and individualities of nominal phrasing in both Russian and Chinese.We have widely read related literature on Russian nominal clause by Russian linguistic researchers,enabling us to be familiar with basic viewpoints and tendencies of the Russian linguistic field.We have also studied the results of research done on Chinese nominal non-subject-predicate clause done by Chinese scholars,meanwhile learning about large body of Russian-Chinese comparison results and both Chinese and foreign linguistic theories.Based on existing explanations,we try to follow the main thread of construction grammar,uniting factual studies with phenomenon explanation,and studying a single language target,as well as comparing Russian and Chinese as part of our approach;we also employ the theories of "clausal pivot" and"clausal government" of Mr.Xing Fuyi,taking the "Small Triangle" theory as methodology,trying to analyze and explain Russian and Chinese nominal phrasing more differently,profoundly and comprehensively.This study is based on Russian Grammar,(USSR Academy of Sciences,1980),adopting the expansions of nominal clause in Grammar in eighty years,from which it is considered that nominal phrasing is single element clause with three main characteristics:1.The central element of the clause is the nominative noun form;2.There is no conjugational notional verb in the clause;3.The clause is affirmative.Nominal phrasing on the basis of matching form and meaning derives constructive meaning.Russian nominal phrasing formally can be divided into two general types:typical nominal phrasing and quasi-nominal phrasing.Typical nominal phrasing has single noun form and attributive noun form;quasi-nominal phrasing is the extension of the typical nominal phrasing,including spatiotemporal extension form,pronoun extension form and subject extension form.Chinese nominal phrasing also has single noun form and attributive noun form,additionally,there is also hao(?)+attributive noun form and adverbial+attributive noun form.Nominal phrasing with its existence and descriptiveness as major constructive characteristics possesses marking functions of time,matter,situation and environment,as well as unique significance tendency.The nominal phrasing forms an independent syntactic unit.Its constructional meaning must undergo a concrete contextual activation.On the base of this contextual framework of the nominal phrasing,we are of the opinion that the nominal phrasing only within a specific context can obtain its precise and full-fledged construal.This paper asserts that the nominal phrasing has two types of contextual frameworks:the initiative contextual framework and the centre-related contextual framework.The initiative contextual framework is more apparent in existence denoting nominal phrasing.The nominal phrasing after the initialization continues in a series of contextual elements,and the following elements of the contextual framework are basis for the construal of the nominal phrasing.The centre-related contextual framework is present mostly in descriptive nominal phrasings,which is related to previous or later contextual framework elements,on which basis obtains construal.Contextual framework is a new means of construal of nominal phrasing based on framework syntax.We assert that nominal phrasing cannot achieve its full meaning without the context.Construction grammar posits that the construction has governing role toward lexical items.The theory of "clausal government" is of the opinion that the syntactic mechanisms in regard to different types and different levels of grammatical elements possess governing functions.Based upon this we have analysed the sentence generating parameters of the nominal phrasings.The governing and the constrains of the nominal phrasings are actualised on one hand by the suppression effect of the special semantic value of the lexical item,thus each part of speech entering the syntactic core of the nominal phrasing is superseded by the semantic value of the construction,so even a word form that isn't a noun can be made to acquire nominal characteristics of a special part of speech while losing its own semantic and functional features,just as is the case with Russian adjective nouns and gerunds.On other hand a governing function of the nominal phrasing is actualized concerning the specific sentence form.The traditional nominal phrase only has definite and indicative modes,however,the present study has included many extended forms,modal types and aggregate forms,taking the noun core as a necessary condition,so each phrase types entering the nominal phrasing,even those having different functions,all imply the existence of the nominal phrasing's function,thus agreeing with the nominal phrasing.Comparison is one of the basic methodological approaches in the humanity's intellectual sphere.We have analysed the different forms of nominal phrasings in Russian and Chinese,employing semantic and pragmatic methodological approach.Upon this foundation we have performed an inclusive comparison of the characteristics of Russian nominal phrasings and have summed up the common elements of the outside qualities,construction meanings and pragmatic functions,as well as the specific differences in the structural scope,the modal types and the lexical entries while putting forward a generative cognitive psychology of their common pragmatics.We have made an attempt at constructing a scheme of differences and similarities of nominal phrasings in Chinese and Russian by conducting a cross-language comparison between Russian and Chinese nominal phrasings,which could be of use in the field of comparative studies of Chinese and Russian.The language is not an isolated system.The nominal phrasing in a language represents an avoidable syntactic form,and in common with other syntactic forms,it possesses rich contents and extensions.It does not only have its own particular features,but also contains substantial semantic and pragmatic functions,and it is expressed in different ways in Russian and Chinese.Our research has as its goal to establish the link between the content of language and its external form.Conducting the exploration in the content of nominal phrasings and their external extensions and analysing the nominal phrasings with the cross-language characteristics,comprehensive approach is employed that can result in a renewed look into the nominal phrasing,this specific linguistic phenomenon.