The Function And Evolution Of Negative Forms In The Downgrading Of Modern Chinese

There is a large quantity of studies in negation phenomenon and negation category in academia,but there are still some basic phenomena to be explained.The downgraded negation in Modern Chinese is one of the subcategorizations in negation category,it has its own unique characteristics in constitute categories、internal structure、semantic properties、expression function and grammaticalization。This study,which selects the downgraded negation in Modern Chinese as the research object,and is based on the theory of functionalism,also learns from theoretical research methods of subjectivisation、tokenization、metalinguistization、lexicalization、grammaticalization and discourse grammar 、 pragmatics, discusses the syntax distributions and performances、semantic properties and expressional functions、grammaticalization and lexicalization in details,then studies the differences and similarities between downgraded negation and its corresponding form。This paper is divided into six chapters:The first chapter is the introduction。This part is to make a detailed carding on negation category and negation research,then give the definition and the source of downgraded negation combined with relevant study。Downgraded negation is a kind of negation which is syntactically adhesion,semantically incomplete,pragmatically euphemism,such as“xian you(鲜有)、que fa(缺乏)、huang lun(遑论)、qi gan(岂敢)、ju liao(讵料)、wang gu(罔顾)、wu wang(毋忘)”and so on。Simultaneously,we introduce the relevant situation on downgraded negation,and the basic ideas、research methods and sources of corpus of this paper。The second chapter is from downgraded negation to negative adverb。This part mainly talks about downgraded negation“xian you(鲜有)”。First investigate the components behind it and syntax distribution,also generalizing semantic features of the components behind it;Semantically,“xianyou”has the attribute of quantitative negation or partial negation,which semantic meaning is“less than”,its negative meaning is derived from pragmatic inference,in adjacent context,“xianyou”gradually start adverbialization,its functional expressions embody such as comply with courtesy,save face,reflect subjectivity,express intersubjectivity。Finally,we talk about the differences between“xianyou(鲜有)”and“meiyou(没有)”and the cause leading to negative imbroglio。The third chapter is from downgraded negation to progressive conjunction。This part mainly talks about downgraded negation“huang lun(遑论)”。First analyse the syntax distribution and co-occurrence of“huang lun(遑论)”in the perspective of syntax;The performance of semantic and modality has four aspects:pragmatic negation with progressive、from ideational function to textual function、superposition with redundancy、magnitude characteristics of measurement of negation。The syntax environment has relationship with“huang lun(遑论)”’s grammaticalization。In the last,we talk about the differences between“huang lun(遑论)”and“bu lun(不论)”in four aspects:syntax distribution、the way of negation、modality convey、correlation function。The fourth chapter is from downgraded negation to discourse marker。This part mainly talks about downgraded negation“qi gan(岂敢)”。First discuss the performance in adverbial distribution、answering function and choosing restrictions of“qi gan(岂敢)”。Its semantic and pragmatic has four performances:negation in pragmatic、negation in reinforcement、negation in subjective and expressing phatic function,its grammaticalization experienced three progress:from PP+VP phrase to adverbialization、to subjectivisation and to symbolization。In the end,we analyse the disparities between“qi gan(岂敢)”and“bu gan(不敢)”in negative properties、negative intensity、subjective modality and style distribution。The fifth chapter is downgraded negation with correlative marker。This part mainly talks about downgraded negation“ju liao(讵料)”。“ju liao”can connect clauses、sentences and discourses to constitute compound sentence、sentence group and paragraph in discourses,it also can co-occur with expressing mirativity。On the aspects of semantic and pragmatics,“ju liao”has the following functions:expressing mirativity semantic、highlighting focus information、revealing meta-language functions and reflecting unexpectedness characteristics。Its grammaticalization has three stages:lexicalization、conjunctionalization and correlation。Last is introducing the disparities between“ju liao(讵料)”and“bu liao(不料)”in negation level、category hierarchy and style distribution。The sixth chapter is conclusion。We outline the main viewpoint of this paper,and point out the shortcomings of this paper。...