Study On Inference Connectives In Modern Chinese Texts

Inference connectives are common in modern Chinese texts. This paper mainly applies the methods of describing, statistics and analyzing to research their positions, domination boundaries, reasoning methods applied in their domination boundaries, semantic relations between the antecedents and consequents of domination and textual functions in modern Chinese texts.This thesis consists of seven chapters. Chapter one has introduced the origins of writing, the object of study, the train of thoughts, the meaning of study and the sources of language data of the thesis. Chapter two has summarized researches relevant to inference connectives in fields of grammar, pragmatics, text linguistics and speech communication science. Chapter three has described and counted the positions of inference connectives in texts, and has analyzed the statistics on their positions as well. It has found that inference connectives are mainly located between clauses, simple sentences, complex sentences or paragraphs, and that each inference connective has its own characteristics in different positions. Chapter four has described domination boundaries of inference connectives and has found that their domination boundaries have two major features-bi-direction and asymmetry. Chapter five has studied the reasoning methods applied in domination boundaries of inference connectives and the reasoning features of their domination boundaries. The chief reasoning methods applied in their domination boundaries are direct reasoning, categorical syllogism, associative reasoning, hypothetical reasoning, dilemma, incomplete inductive reasoning, positive analogical reasoning and negative analogical reasoning. The main reasoning features of their domination boundaries are diversity of reasoning methods and the flexibility of reasoning language. Chapter six has studied the semantic relations between the antecedent and consequent in domination boundaries of inference connectives and the features of their semantic relations. Seeing in the perspective of grammar, the main semantic relations between the antecedent and consequent are cause-effect, phenomenon-comment, general-respective exposition, measure-object, and so on. While, seeing in the perspective of logical semantics, their major semantic relations are entailment, hyponymy and synonymy. Their semantic relations have presented some major features of diversity, homogeneity, non-proportionality and a certain degree of correspondence. Chapter seven has analyzed the textual functions of inference connectives. Their main textual functions are cohesion, coherence, the marks of reasoning and turn-taking.