A Contrastive Study On The Discourses Of English And Chinese Cosmetics Expositions-from The Perspective Of The Interpersonal Function

Based on the theory of interpersonal function in Halliday's Systematic Functional Grammar, this thesis aims to make a contrast in Chinese and English cosmetics expositions. In the analysis and discussion, 30 Chinese and 30 English cosmetics expositions are chosen as samples, which come from the author's word-by-word copies of the expositions affixed to the bottles or boxes of real products or from Internet.This thesis is composed of six chapters:Chapter I is the introduction. The author states the theoretical background, importance and purpose of the present study.Chapter II functions as a literature review. The review begins with the origin, development and current studies on the contrastive discourse analysis. And then the studies on interpersonal function analysis are reviewed. Finally a brief summary of this part are made.Chapter III discusses the theoretical foundation and analysis levels based on Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar. The author first gives an elaboration on the two principal approaches to realize interpersonal functions: mood and modality, then discusses the interpersonal meaning realized at lexical level, at group level, at the clausal level and at the discourse level.Chapter IV introduces the data for this study, including the collection and classification of the data firstly. And then the author makes a contrastive analysis of the interpersonal function in Chinese and English cosmetics expositions at various levels: at lexical level (mainly modal verbs and modal adjuncts), at group level (the subject), at the clausal level (the mood) and at the discourse level (with context and communication role).Chapter V is the implications. Some suggestions on the translation practice of Chinese expositions are made.Chapter VI is the conclusion of the whole thesis. It gives a summary of the major findings in this thesis, summarizes the features of Chinese and English cosmetics expositions in realizing interpersonal function. Meanwhile, limitations of the present study and the directions for the future research in this field are indicated in this part.