The Static And Dynamic Exploration Of Memes On Chinese Catchwords

Memetics is a new theory for interpreting cultural evolution. A meme, invented to suggest an analogy with genes, is a unit of cultural imitation, a self-propagating idea much like a biological or computer virus. Memetically, language memes reveal, from a new angle, the law of speech spread and language replication. The present study focuses on how catchword memes in Chinese language come into being and its form realization from an angle of static and dynamic analysis.This is a qualitative analysis based on the data collected from newspapers, magazines, Internet and daily language use. The conceptual framework is based on memetics.Meme is a unit of intellectual or cultural information that can be transmitted in a non-genetic way. There are many examples of memes which are in different styles, such as tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches, etc. As one kind of meme, language meme is a transmission unit of language information that replicates and transmits by non-genetic means and consequently language develops and evolves in this way. They can be analyzed into static and dynamic elements. They have main features: replicate-ability, transmit-ability, variability, stability. Any language entity or using style can be a unit of language meme.In this thesis, the author argues that a language meme is a unified unit combined by static and dynamic elements. Language entity meme can be divided into three levels in representation: vocabulary meme, sentence meme and discourse meme, and four types in detail: word meme, phrase meme, sentence meme and discourse meme.Catchword meme is an interesting phenomenon in language use. A systematic research can provide both theoretical and practical values in linguistics. This study is a tentative research which is conducted by observing and analyzing the collected data. However, it is hoped that the study will be helpful and beneficial to the study of language meme and the exploration of Chinese.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one provides a general introduction to this thesis. In this chapter, the following work will be done: 1. The reasons for the selection of the research subject. 2. Data collection and research methodology of analysis. 3. Significance and aims of this thesis. 4. The framework of the present study. 5. Concept clarification on present study.Chapter two presents a review of the relevant literature based on the categorization of previous researches and points out the achievements and limitations of the past study. Finally, the perspective of the present study is introduced. Chapter three is a re-organization of conceptual framework proposed on the basis of memetics. After a discussion of major concepts of language memes, a tentative framework is constructed to demonstrate the complex formation process of Chinese catchwords.At the core of the study, chapter four, sits a large text analysis of how catchwords memes are formed by emic unit, slot, cohesion and role trace in a static and dynamic way. Three paradigms are drawn as the conclusion: form paradigm, meaning paradigm and three-dimension paradigm. This chapter is devoted to concrete analysis of examples chosen from the collected data in the light of the constructed framework in chapter three.Chapter five summarizes the major findings of the present study and points out the limitations of the research. And then some suggestions for further study of language memes are presented.