Semantic Research On "Shi"

The main purpose of this thesis is analyzing and researching on the "shi" sentences in the field of semantic theory. The basic thought is describing and concluding the "shi" sentences against the background of contemporary Chinese and the Three Plane Theory, which is going under language material statistics, transformational analysis, semantic feature analysis and so on.By analyzing the language material, we found out that different "shi" have clear differences on the meaning types, which have strict boundary from each other, complementation distribution on the semantic, different character on the syntax, and different discourse function of pragmatics. Therefore "shi" sentences can be divided into four different kinds: A. the declarative sentence of "shi" B. the emphasized sentence of "shi" C. the existential sentence of "shi" D. the confirmed sentence of "shi". The whole paper is composed of seven chapters as below:Chapter 1 is summarization. We summarize some points relating to this study, including the semantic, syntax, and pragmatics parts of "shi". Then we define the object and the content of this study, make clear the language material, and point out the value of this paper.Chapter 2 is the declarative sentence of "shi". Firstly we define the declarative sentence of "shi" on theory and distinguish the two kinds of "shi...de" sentence. Then we divide the declarative sentence of "shi" into four kinds, and describe every kind in detail. At last we point out the syntax character and rules which is found and summarized in this kind of "shi" sentence.Chapter 3 is the emphasized sentence of "shi". We introduce the theory background briefly and define what is the emphasized sentence of "shi"; secondly we describe the syntax character of it; finally we conclude a choose order for focus priority in "shi" sentence through comparing analyze.Chapter 4 is the existential sentence of "shi". We introduce the study before on existential sentences and define the existential sentence of "shi" and describe the syntax character of it. Then we describe the semantic character of existential "shi" sentences.Chapter 5 is the confirmed sentence of "shi". We introduce the theory background and divide the confirmed sentence of "shi" into two kinds which include "concession" and "emphasize". Then we analyze and make clear the different meaning of the declarative "shi" sentence the confirmed "shi" sentence in the same form.Chapter 6 is the brief statement on the grammaticalization process of "shi". To give the historical description on every types of "shi", to talk about the time that they were started to be used and the process of the grammaticalization process, to supply the historical foundation for the developing of "shi" sentences.Chapter 7 is the epilogue. It summarizes what we have down in this paper and what we still need to do for the future.