Denominalization As Grammatical Metaphor

The central objective of this thesis is to investigate the metaphorical nature of denominalization in English. The author's motivation for embarking on this subject lies in the desire to understand the nature of denominal verbs better. Denominal verbs are found, through a qualitative research in this thesis, having weathered a metaphorical process from a parent noun. This process is characterized as alterations in grammatical functions accompanied by lexical variations. To be specific, functions change from Goal or Circumstance performed by the parent noun to Process by the denominal verb.Nonetheless it is the lexical traits of denominal verbs that have attracted much attention. Meanwhile, its true nature, as it were, of being grammatical metaphor, is least stressed and hence provides an interesting realm of inquiry to clear the identity of denominal verbs from being merely a method of creating new words.These issues are discussed against the background of systemic functional grammar and recent developments in other linguistic frameworks such as Cognitive linguistics. Halliday's theory of grammatical metaphor that the variation is essentially in the grammatical forms, serves as a strong backbone for our analyses. Clark and Clark's paper on denominal verbs in 1979 provides necessary data and their definition of mutual knowledge promotes our understanding of another important term stereotypical relationship. The thesis itself is divided into five parts.The first part is an introduction to the theoretical background and present research domestic and abroad.The following part defines and classifies denominal verbs. Related aspects are touched, including cognitive basis and conversion process.The third part of this paper focuses on grammatical metaphor. The concept of congruency and characteristics of grammatical metaphor arethe major topics. Special attention is paid to congruency to extend Halliday's description of congruency as well as to prepare for probing the congruent forms of different types of denominal verbs in the forth part.In chapter four, the trace to the metaphorical process of denominalization is articulated with the help of such concept and strategy as implication and pragmatic inference. And with examples, the true nature of denominal verbs is revealed by examining functions of denominal verbs and their congruent forms respectively.The last part is the conclusion.All the parts of the thesis interact with one another and work together to support the presumption of this thesis: denominalization is a process of grammatical metaphor.