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On English Cleft Sentence-from The Perspective Of Prototype-Model Theory

Posted on:2009-03-05Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Z H YuanFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360242498173Subject:English Language and Literature
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This thesis, based on Zhang Jin's prototype-model theory, makes a new and tentative study on cleft sentence. This study aims at exploring the generative mechanism of cleft sentence, the cognitive mechanism of the subject of modeling when model cleft sentences are generated, the relationship between the prototype sentence and the corresponding generated model cleft sentences and that between the corresponding generated model cleft sentences.Cleft sentence is a very familiar linguistic phenomenon which has been drawing the intellectual pursuit. According to the incomplete statistics, there are more than fifty papers and at least ten monographs including doctoral papers studying it from different or similar perspectives. These studies are mainly from syntactic perspective, pragmatic perspective, and the perspective of systemic-functional linguistics.Prototype-model theory was put forward by Professor Zhang Jin who is a doctoral supervisor in Henan University. This theory was established on the basis of the theory of the relationship between inner and outer contradiction from the perspective of oriental dialectics. (张今,姜玲, 2005: 167) Armed with Marxism, Zhang Jin sticks to the principle of the dialectical relationship of reality, language and thinking. He insists that reality is the base of thinking while thinking reflects reality actively through language. According to prototype-model theory, the objective material world and mental world is prototype while language and speech are models that actively reflect and imitate the former. This thesis assumes that the simple and normal sentences are generated by directly modeling the objective world. The relationship among the elements in these simple and normal sentences is the general reflection of the relationship among the corresponding entities in the objective world. Generally speaking, the simpler object is produced first and then the more difficult object can be regarded as being generated from the simpler one. Once a simple and normal sentence comes into being, it can serve as prototype sentence and be patterned again. Every simple and normal sentence describes an objective scene or an event. Cleft sentences are generated by patterning the prototype sentences through the medium of the cognition of the subject of modeling about the scene described by the prototype sentences. When the subject of modeling patterns the prototype sentence, he will do some complex cognitive processing to the objective scene or event depicted by the prototype sentence. This is like that the subject of modeling is observing and construing the objective scene. The subject of modeling has the ability to construe a scene in alternative ways----by means of alternative language expressions. He has subjective initiative and he may focus his attention on different facets of the scene at different time. He may observe the scene from different viewpoints. There will be a dynamic scene in his mind. The production of the dynamic scene is closely related to the experience and complex cognitive activities of the subject of modeling. The dynamic scene is in fact a series of dynamic mental pictures which is the construal and conceptualizations of the subject of modeling about the objective scene depicted by the prototype sentences. The focused facets of the scene are perceived prominent in his mind. As a result, different model cleft sentences will be generated upon patterning the prototype sentence through the medium of human cognition. Conversely, these model sentences reflect the characteristics of the cognition of the subject of modeling about the objective scene at different time.In the view of the principle of conjugation and intergrowth, if two objects share the same basis, generally speaking, the similarity or some logical relationship such as cause and effect relationship and conditional relationship, while they are also different, then there exists the relationship of conjugation and intergrowth between the two objects. The relationship of conjugation is the sufficient and necessary condition of the intergrowth of the two objects. The connotation of intergrowth is very wide. It can be combination, derivation, exchanging, heredity, metaphor, analogy and association. (张今,姜玲, 2005: 1-2) Therefore, the prototype sentence and model cleft sentences make up the relationship of conjugation and intergrowth. The different model cleft sentences are generated from the same prototype sentence. However, they are different. Therefore, they also make up the relationship of conjugation and intergrowth.This thesis provides a strong logical explanation on the production of model cleft sentence. This study opens a new utilization of prototype-model theory. It is helpful to the study of syntax. Language learners can also be helped to identify the similarities and differences between sentences. Thus they can improve linguistic competence in expressing, understanding, writing and translating. Despite the large amount of work that has been done in the process of writing this thesis, inevitably, there are also some limitations. The author hopes for joint further studies with other scholars and finding more convincing examples to illustrate the question.
Keywords/Search Tags:English cleft sentence, prototype-model theory, the principle of mono-prototype-poly-model, the principle of conjugation and intergrowth
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