The Distribution And Function Of Chinese And English Relative Clauses

This dissertation,from a functionalist view of grammar,and a discourse-functional perspective in particular,makes a functional contrastive study of the relative clauses in English and Chinese.The author focuses on the similarities and differences of the Chinese and English RCs in terms of the discourse distribution and discourse functions,based on the data base of 628 instances of Chinese RCs collected from one Chinese written narrative and 644 instances of English RCs collected from one English written narrative with the number of words totaling approximately 400,000.After analyzing the different predicate types of relative clauses and their argument distribution,we have come to the conclusion that both Chinese and English RCs employ similar predicate types,while the predicate distribution features are different.Complicated predicate type is what in common between the two languages.Both the Chinese and English RCs mainly serve as descriptive RCs.We have found out that Chinese and English relative clauses behave differently in terms of where and how they comply with the PAS theory.Both Chinese and English S-RCs and O-RCs,along with English A-RCs,comply with PAS,whereas Chinese A-RCs don‘t observe the PAS constraint.We believe this disparity results from the unique characteristics of the Chinese language.We have made it clear that the Chinese indefinite RCs mainly occupy the subject and object positions,whereas the English definite and indefinite RCs tend to occupy the position of adverbials.This has something to do with the uniqueness of the two languages.By distinguishing three types(individual,generic and non-referential type),and discussing the differences of their corresponding relative clauses in terms of discourse distribution and discourse function,we have found out that for both Chinese and English RCs,the individual type is the major type.Both Chinese and English non-referential RCs mainly serve the characterizing function.But for the individual type,the Chinese RCs mainly serve the narrative function,whereas the English RCs serve the narrative and descriptive functions.Both the Chinese and the English RCs mainly serve the function of backgrounding.However,we have found out that English RCs are more capable of serving the function of foregrounding than the Chinese RCs.We believe this is due to the position of the relative clauses.This dissertation is based on the written Chinese and English narrative,and therefore the findings are but the manifestation and rules of the Chinese and English language in this genre.Though limited within this genre alone,the exploration is still a useful attempt in the systematic study of relative clauses in general.