A Study On The Grammar Of Gao’an Dialect

This dissertation is a descriptive study of the grammar of Gao’an dialect.It mainly discusses the affixes,reduplication,pronouns,verb aspects,the degree-category,the"De(得)" sentences,comparative sentences,disposal sentences,passive sentences,interrogative sentences,etc.The thesis is divided into 13 chapters.Chapter one is an introduction of the geographical and historical overview of Gao’an and the research status of Gao’an dialects.At the same time,the source of corpus and common dialect words are explained.Chapter two is devoted into the discussion of the affixes.This chapter introduces the prefixes,suffixes,and infixes of the Gao’an dialect,focusing on the special and characteristic suffixes.Among them,the suffix"Zi(子),Ze(仔),Li(哩)"which grammatical distribution is complementary is the most commonly used suffixes.Chapter three is on the study of reduplication patterns.The reduplication form and grammatical meaning of Gao’an dialect are quite different from those of Mandarin.This chapter analyzes reduplication patterns such as nouns,verbs,adjectives,adverb and quantifiers in Gao’an dialect,and discusses the grammatical meaning and function of reduplication forms.Noun reduplication with verbal forms such as AA,AA Li(哩),and AAB,and grammatical meanings including kindness,quantity,and thoroughness;Verbs reduplication with forms such as AA,AA,BB,and AABB,and grammatical meanings have short-time,casual,relaxed,and continuous and repetitive movements,but there is no the meaning of trying in Mandarin.Adjective reduplication forms are all state adjectives,which indicate a deeper degree.There are fewer reduplication forms of adverbs.The quantifiers have the forms AA,A Da(打)A,A Si(似)A,etc.,which mainly indicate grammatical meanings such as "each" and a large number of subjective numbers.Chapter four concentrates on the pronouns.This chapter mainly studies the form,meaning and grammatical function of pronouns of Gao’an dialect,including personal pronouns,demonstrative pronouns and interrogative pronouns.Each sub-category under the big category is introduced in more detail.In addition,the non-referential usage and grammaticalization of pronouns are also discussed.Chapter five:Verb Aspects.The verb aspects are particularly important parts of grammar.The means and marks of verb aspects in Gao’an dialect are quite different from those of Mandarin.This chapter mainly discusses the complete aspect,progressive aspect,continuity aspect,experiential aspect,recent experiential aspect,initial aspect,antecedent aspect,repeating aspect,contingent aspect,short-term appearance,attempt aspect and repetitive aspect in Gao’an dialect.Chapter six:We described the methods and forms of the degree-category in the Gao’an dialect from the aspects of vocabulary,grammar and pragmatics.At the lexical level,there are mainly two types of state adjectives;at the grammatical level,there are reduplication forms,element of sentence such as adverbials,complements,attributives and specific formats.At the pragmatic level,there are multiple methods such as tone,analogy,comparison,exaggeration and irony.Chapter seven:the "De(得)" sentences.The meaning and usage of De(得)in Gao’an dialect are more complicated and distinctive."得"has functions such as part-of-speech or general verbs,verb suffixes,adverb,auxiliary verb,structural auxiliary words,dynamic auxiliary words,mood auxiliary words,and prepositions.This chapter mainly discusses the different parts of speech and sentence patterns of "De(得)".In addition,the characteristic grammatical phenomena related to "De(得)" in Gao’an dialect are also studied,such as the distribution of "De(得)"and "Qi(起)" as trend complement markers and the format of"冇 V 得 C".It can be said that the word"De(得)" involves all aspects of grammar of Gao’an dialect.Chapter eight is the analysis of comparative sentences.Comparison is an important semantic category.Some comparative sentences in the Gao’an dialect retain the ancient Chinese form,such as"A Si(似)B".In addition,the internal system is relatively strict,and the results of adjectives using "De(得)" and "Dao(到)" are different.This chapter mainly analyzes the discrepancy comparison,superlative comparison,succession comparison,and equality comparison sentences in Gao’an dialect.Chapter nine:Disposal sentences.The main types of disposal sentences in Gao’an dialect include"Ba(把)" disposition sentences,"Na(拿)" disposition sentences and"Zhuodao(捉到)/Qiadao(榕到)" disposition sentences.It focuses on the analysis of the syntactic form and semantic characteristics of the"Ba(把)"disposition sentence,and the"Zhuodao(捉到)/Qiadao(揢到)" disposition sentence.In addition,other forms of disposition expression are also introduced.Chapter ten:Passive Sentences.The main investigation includes marked passive sentences and unmarked passive sentences.Marked passive sentences include "Zhe(着)"sentences,"Tao(讨)"sentences and"Ba(把)" passive sentences.Unmarked passive sentences include suffering,arbitrary verb sentences and passive subject sentences.Chapter eleven:Double Object Sentences.According to the double-object sentences in Mandarin,the two corresponding sentence patterns in Gao’an dialect are described:one is the general double-object sentence,and the other is the indirect object-marked type,and the characteristics of the respective verbs,objects and the semantics of the double-object sentences are discussed.In addition,the similarities and differences between the "Ba(把)" in Gao’an dialect and the "Gei(给)" in Mandarin are also analyzed.Chapter twelve is the description of interrogative sentences.The main discussions are the syntactic forms and semantic features of yes-no questions,alternative questions,positive-negative questions,specific questions,reverse questions,additional questions and echo questions.The alternative questions and positive-negative questions of Gao’an dialect have something in common and are marked with "啊".We also discussed the tone sandhi and usage of the modal particle "Shi(时)" in interrogative and non-interrogative sentences.Chapter thirteen is a summary.We summarized the full text,pointed out the deficiencies of the paper and explained the issues to be studied.