A Study Of Information Structure In English Transformational Synonymous Sentences

This thesis mainly applies Halliday's functional theory on information structure to the explanation of transformational synonymous sentences (hereinafter TSS). Language concerns two aspects: meaning and form, which can be embodied in a sentence. When several sentences express the same meaning by different language forms, they constitute synonymy. That is, synonymy sentences are different in grammatical constructions, even in words, but they possess the same objective truth value (in other words, they reflect one identical objective fact). Due to rich synonymous expressions in English, transformational relations among them are various, which undoubtedly provide us enough space for the research on TSS.TSS are synonymous sentences composed by the change of syntactic constructions. Traditionally, TSS are always studied within the scope of rhetoric, resulting in the stylistic colours of them. However, in the new century, linguists make an attempt to expound this phenomenon from other points of view, such as Halliday who proposes Systemic Functional theory to approach text. TSS as special semantic relationship bear a large amount of function and information and play incomparable role in text coherence. In order to clearly reveal the regularity of TSS'information distribution, this research is conducted from theory to practice, for which the qualitative method is taken.This thesis is divided into six chapters.Chapter One introduces some general information about the research on TSS like the reason, purpose, research method as well as definitions and scope of TSS, etc.Chapter Two reviews various theoretical studies both at home and abroad on information structure and the achievements of the research on transformational theory and synonymous sentences.Chapter Three discusses the theoretical framework, i.e. thematic structure, information structure and the comparison between the two structures on the basis of Halliday's Functional Grammar. There are some relevant items in thematic structure, such as Theme and Rheme, unmarked and marked Theme, etc. Relative theories about information structure are also illustrated like Given and New information, information focus, and so on. In practical analysis, thematic structure is not completely equated with information structure. To better understand the relationship between the two structures, their similarities and differences are compared.Chapter Four studies the different types of TSS and their information structures. Firstly, TSS are divided into two kinds. One is permutation transformations, subdivided into transformations of word order and of syntactic constructions; the other is deletion transformation. The former includes fronting and postponement in word order together with passivization and cleft construction in syntactic construction, while the latter mainly refers to ellipsis. Then, TSS is analyzed on the basis of thematic structure, because which components play as the Theme will greatly influence information distribution, though the sequence that Theme precedes Rheme is fixed. The regularity of information structure about TSS is expounded in detail. During the process of transformation, some changes happen to information structure, which leads to the functional differences of TSS in application.Chapter Five concerns TSS in text. It summarizes the two functions of TSS in text: the fluency of information transfer and the accuracy of information expression. The former performs as a close tie between the precedent text and the following one, while the latter protrudes information center. Whether in spoken or written texts, the speaker/writer and the hearer/reader can get some enlightments from the functional analysis of TSS.Chapter Six concludes the analytic results, acknowledges some limitations and gives suggestions for further research.In case of classifying TSS into two categories, each of which is investigated in terms of thematic structure and information structure. Because the combination of the two structures is diversified according to syntactic choices in TSS, besides the general model of Theme/Given information and Rheme/New information, TSS provide manifold kinds of corresponding relations between thematic structure and information structure. What's more, the choice of TSS influences the text organization. By investigating permutation transformations and deletion transformation, this thesis reveals the regularity of information structure of TSS and demonstrates their value in text. Fact proves that the research on information structure of TSS is feasible. In view of speakers and writers, it is beneficial for them to utilize different language forms so as to realize the efficiency and diversification of information transfer. From the perspective of hearers and readers, it is helpful for them to clearly comprehend text contents.