A Study Of Dissuasive Sentences In Modern Chinese

Sentences can be classified into four main categories based on the mood.Amongst them are imperative sentences whose main communicative function is to give advice or persuade someone to do something.Based on the Speech Act Theory by Austin and Searle,this thesis seeks to analyze dissuasive sentences,their various forms of expression in standard Chinese,the context in which they are used and the specific pragmatic value of dissuasive sentences.This paper also analyzes the relationship between dissuasive sentences and person,carries out a comparative study of dissuasive sentences in Chinese,French and the Bassa language of Cameroon,and discusses some issues related to the teaching of dissuasive sentences.This thesis is divided into twelve parts:The first chapter states the research objectives,the significance of the research,scope,theoretical basis,key issues to be resolved,research methods,novelties as well as the source of the corpus.Chapter two reviews the current status of research on dissuasive sentences.Dissuasive sentences are part of imperative sentences.From frontier review,we found out that not much work has been done in this area of research.This paper therefore begins by reviewing literature related to imperative sentences.This chapter discusses the definition,subjectpredicate imperative sentences,the semantics and pragmatics of imperative sentences,comparative studies of imperative sentences in modern Chinese with other languages.This section also discusses dissuasive sentences in verbal communication and their expression in Chinese.Chapter three discusses the structure "bie +X+(le)" used to express dissuasion.The word "bie" and the expression of dissuasion are reviewed.The grammatical meaning of "bie+X+(le)" is analyzed,and three cases in which the negative item of "bie" is a verb,an adjective,and other components are discussed.This section also discusses the similarities and differences between “bie+X”and “bie+X+le”.Finally,the structure “bie+X” is compared with other synonymous sentences,such as “shao+X”,“beng+V+(le)”,“buyao / buxu / buzhun+VP”.Chapter four analysis the structure “xiaoxin X”.In modern Chinese,“xiaoxin” in“xiaoxin X” is a verb.X can be NP,VP,and AP.When the NP has a different semantic meaning,the “X” in “xiaoxin X” can also have three forms of expression namely: “xiaoxin NP” as doer of the action(agent),“xiaoxin NP” as object and “xiaoxin NP” acting as both agent and object at the same time.In addition,on the basis of “xiaoxin X”,this chapter also discusses the pattern “xiaoxin VP” and asymmetry between the structure and its negative form.From analysis,it shows that “xiaoxin” does not have a complete negative form in a general sense.The paper holds that the sentence structure “xiaoxin NP” is the same as “xiaoxin bie+VP”.When VP is a verb,“xiaoxin” has no negative form,but when VP is the subject,“xiaoxin bie VP can replace “xiaoxin VP”.Chapter five analysis the dissuasive sentence pattern “X shenme X”.The main component of the “X shenme X” sentence pattern is “shenme” plus two “X” before and after.“NP” can be the subject in the sentence structure with “X shenme X” as the predicate.The semantic meaning of this pattern can be generalized as the speaker's subjective denial of the opponent's action,behavior,or opinion.The semantic meaning of its most basic form express negation.This is achieved by the speaker asking a question in reply;the most seen “X” is mainly with monosyllabic verbs.It has higher degree of negation compared with other structures like “bie X”,“X shenme”.The sixth chapter analyzes the dissuasive meaning of the discourse marker “X le”.The“X le” discussed in this chapter mainly includes “haole”,“xingle”,“suanle”,“dele”and “ba le”.From a pragmatics point of view,these five discourse markers have a dissuasive meaning and a pragmatic effect and can be used at various positions in a sentence.From the perspective of expression,these five markers can be duplicated and can be used individually.Whether they are duplicated or used individually,it has the same language function,the same discourse function and interpersonal function but have different tones.Chapter seven looks at how the double negation imperative sentence pattern “bie bu X”used to express dissuasion.in the process of communication and under a specific context,“bie bu X” can be used to express dissuasion.Compared with other dissuasive expressions,the message passed across in the sentence pattern “bie bu X” is related to presupposition because under normal circumstances “bie bu X” embodies the speaker's presupposition of the existing state,and also reflects the original behavioral intention of the receiver.Chapter eight discusses dissuasive sentences,choice of person and the problem of concealment.This section pays attention to the pragmatic value of dissuasive sentences with or without the second-person and the concealment of the second person personal pronoun and the tendency of “appearance” and “disappearance” under the condition of freedom of concealment.In addition,this chapter also observes and analyzes the dissuasive sentence with the co-occurrence of the first-person plural pronoun.Through corpus analysis,it is found that the first-person subject form of the dissuasive sentence is “wo(men),zan(men)”,and the referents can be the speaker and the receiver.The referents can be divided into several types of situations.The first type is when the listener and the speaker are on the scene at the same time,and the other is when one of the two is on the scene.Finally,the dissuasive sentence and the third person co-occurrence are explained through corpus analysis,and it is believed that the third-person pronoun can also be used in the dissuasive sentence.This situation is divided into two categories,the situation in which the third person is at the speaking scene,and the other category in which the third person is not at the speaking scene.Chapter nine discusses dissuasive sentences and the principle of politeness.This chapter analyzes the dissuasive speech act in communication.The constituent elements of the dissuasive speech act mainly include: participant,background,purpose,information content,discourse realization method and speech genre.This chapter also analyzes dissuasive sentences and polite speech and proposes additional components that speakers can use,such as adverbs and mood particles,to euphemistically dissuade when expressing dissuasion.Finally,the degree of politeness in modern Chinese dissuasive sentences is discussed from three perspectives: the presence or absence of modal particles,the degree of questioning and politeness,and the level of directness.Chapter ten compares Chinese and French dissuasive sentences.Firstly,we examine morphological changes in French dissuasive sentences including general rules,pronouns,complement pronouns,pronouns “en” and “y”,vowel elision and so on.This chapter also analyzes the characteristics of dissuasive sentences expressed by French speakers in Cameroon,discusses the relationship between Chinese-French dissuasive sentences and negative words,defines negative adverbs commonly used in Chinese,such as “bie,buyao,bu yong,beng,buzhun ” as well as the common negative markers in French like “ne...pas”,“ne...plus”,“ne...jamais”,“ne...rien” for comparative analysis.It also discusses Chinese and French dissuasive sentences and subjects.In the use of imperative sentences,it is more common to use the second person.The first person can also be used in both languages.It's easier to use third person in the French dissuasive sentence,but more complicated in Chinese dissuasive sentences.As a Cameroonian,we made a simple analysis of dissuasive sentences in one of our native Bantu languages(Bassa)and found that the negative markers in Bassa include “ (?)?? ”,“h?(?)??”,“(?)(?)(?)”,“h(?)(?)(?)(?)”,but only “(?)(?)(?) and h(?)(?)(?)(?)” are used in dissuasive sentences.In the Bassa language,the negative marker is usually placed after the verb,and the negative sentence pattern is “subject + verb + negative marker(+ object)”,while in Chinese,the negative marker is generally placed before the verb.The subject of a Bassa dissuasive sentence is usually the second-person singular pronoun “ù”(ni)and the plural pronoun “nì”(nimen).“nì”(nimen)usually appears,while “ù”(ni)sometimes does not appear,and there is freedom appearance.Chapter eleven discusses the teaching of Chinese dissuasive sentences.This chapter first analyzes the layout of dissuasive sentences in some textbooks used in teaching Chinese as a foreign language,including Developing Chinese and Boya Chinese,and then analyzes the teaching objectives of dissuasive sentences in New Chinese Proficiency Outline.This chapter also analyzes some errors in the prediction of Chinese dissuasive sentences by French native speakers.Chapter twelve summarizes the whole text and points out existing problems.