Modern Chinese "double" And "double X" In The Structure Of Multi-angle Inspection

"Shuang"(双, a character which literally means"double") and the"shuang X"structure (X stands for a Chinese character that follows"shuang") have been extensively applied in modern Chinese. As a character formation in dynamic development, the"shuang x"structure and other similar structures have been drawing increasingly more attention from researchers. The"shuang x"structure has evolved into its popular use on the basis of traditional Chinese"shuang x"phrases and thus taken on the distinctive features of modernity and openness. Given its simplicity in form and profoundness in meaning, this thesis is intended to research into"shuang"and the"shuang x"structure from the perspectives of grammar, semantics, pragmatics etc.This thesis is divided into 5 parts:Part I is Introduction. In this part, the author gives an account of the reasons why he adopts this study subject, discusses the gains and weaknesses of previous studies, and then puts forward the task of this thesis, namely, to conduct grammatical, semantic and pragmatic analyses upon"shuang"and the"shuang x"structure. Importance is to be attached to the analysis of semantic features of the"x"in the structure and its classification.Part II is Grammatical Analysis. In this part, the ancient use of"shuang"and its differences in use from"er"and"liang"(二and两, another two Chinese characters similar to"shuang"in meaning) are introduced briefly. Then the grammatical features of"shuang"are analyzed. Besides, character formations of the"shuang x"structure are classified into two types, i.e. the basic type and the abbreviated type and research is conducted on their respective grammatical features. At the end of this part, it is pointed out that"shuang x"character formations serve primarily as attributes and, not so primarily, as part of speech markers.Part III is Semantic Analysis. Semantic analysis of"shuang"is conducted at the beginning, and then emphasis is put upon the analysis of semantic features and classification of characters which can fill the"slot"i.e."x"in the"shuang x"structure. Besides, it is pointed out that the structure tends to signify an identical pair of objects, qualities, or actions.Part IV is Research on Semantic Values. It is asserted, that the"shuang x"structure is particularly suitable for character formations. Easy to use and highly efficient, it has a relatively powerful generalizing capacity; eye-catching and with its meaning readily perceived, it has not merely inherited the merits of its ancient use but has modernity and openness as well; and it is rather formal and often used in writing.Part V is Supplementary Discussion. The conclusion of the present thesis is: that the position of"shuang"in the"shuang x"structure is fixed and that at the same time the structure is prone to be adopted in formation of character groups due to its openness in structure. The characteristics of the"shuang x"structure have showed to us that"shuang"is becoming a quasi-prefix in modern Chinese. Semantically speaking, the integration of communicational contexts and encyclopedic knowledge can be found in"shuang x"character phrases, while that of compounding units and grammatical forms can be found; in terms of expressional effects, they is capable of conveying profound meanings with very few characters and simple but efficient. Besides, this thesis also discusses briefly the reasons for the extensive use of the"shuang x"character phrases. At the same time it is pointed that its extensive use reflects upon the tendency of Chinese users to analogize and the structural thinking habit i.e. the habit of thinking in universal or unified structural models.