The Study Of Grammatical Metaphor In International Business Contracts

The Grammatical Metaphor (hereinafter referred to as GM) theory was initiated by the systemic-functionalist, Halliday who proposed in An Introduction to Functional Grammar (1985) that metaphorization is often grammatical rather than simply lexical. Hence this is the origin of the term, GM.Based on the research results conducted on the GM theory by Halliday and other famous scholars at home and abroad, this thesis utilizes a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, trying to: 1) analyze and explain the main content of Halliday's amendatory GM theory since 1996 and present this author's understanding of the reclassification and proposed functions of GM, together with their significance and limitations; 2) analyze the relationship between register and GM, as well as register and linguistic features of International Business Contracts through the application of Halliday's Register Theory; 3) analyze statistically the classification and distribution of GM in thirty-six International Business Contracts; 4) explore the ideational, interpersonal and textual functions of GM in International Business Contracts and its significance to both the parties and contract draftsmen.Research results show that: 1) Halliday's reclassification of GM since 1996 has greatly extended the concept of GM and is more faithful to the development of human cognition. Such kind of classification, however, has the limitations of ignoring adjectivization, adverbalization, verbalization and other types of nominalization, etc.; 2) GM is not limited to scientific discourse and it exists in any abstract written discourse, such as commercial and legal discourse; 3) three kinds of special phenomena exist in International Business Contracts, i.e., nominalization of abbreviations, adjectivization of passive voice, and adverbalization of some archaic words; 4) the more formal and complex the contract is, the higher degree of metaphoricity the contract has; 5) among all types of GM classified from the point of view of grammatical class transference, nominalization counts first, followed by adjectivization, adverbalization, and verbalization, respectively; 6) in International Business Contracts, the ideational function of GM can increase technicality and information high density of the discourse. The interpersonal function of GM can increase objectivity, formality, solemnity, and equality of the discourse, and the textual function of GM contributes to logicality, accuracy and consistency of the discourse.Since GM increases difficulties in understanding contracts, both the parties and draftsmen should learn and grasp GM in International Business Contracts so as to avoid economic losses incurred from misunderstanding.