A Study On The Deviated Rhetoric Motivation

Rhetoric is the art of using language effectively in modern Rhetoric. It is a language activity in which language is adopted, selected and modified according to the subject and context so as to get the effective communication. Rhetoric is to use all the possible means to intensify the language expression. Language variation, which is one of the major topics in sociolinguistics, refers to the phenomenon of language deviation and change as a result of violating the normal use of the language. As an interesting and fascinating linguistic phenomenon, deviated rhetoric is motivated in its production.Based on the motivation theory, the thesis explores the motivation of deviated rhetoric from the phonological, morphological, semantic aspects, namely to discuss the generation of deviated rhetoric so as to strengthen the understanding and using of the deviated rhetoric to achieve the best communicative effect. On the basis of interpreting the generating mechanism of deviated rhetoric, the thesis reveals the primary dynamic power in the creation and formation of deviated rhetoric.This thesis inherits the classification of motivations by the great linguist Ullmann and divides the motivations of deviated rhetoric into three categories: phonological motivation, morphological motivation and semantic motivation.The thesis argues that the phonological motivation is manifested in the relationship between sound and meaning. Temporariness and flexibility are two phonological characteristics of deviated rhetoric. Based on the interpretation of phonological characteristics of deviated rhetoric, this thesis discusses the phonological motivation of deviated rhetoric, which can be further divided into homophonic motivation and imitation motivation. The homophonic motivation of deviated rhetoric is to construct the deviated rhetoric by using three different creative phonological expressions, namely the same sound with different forms, same sound with the same forms and similar sound with different forms. The imitation motivation is to form deviated rhetoric by imitating the sound of object directly or imitating the sound which connects to the object indirectly. The deviated phonology transmits the feeling of novelty which is unfamiliar to the addressers and addressees and arouses their curiosity so as to get their attention.By analyzing the morphological motivation of deviated rhetoric, the thesis holds that the deviated rhetoric has the property of foregrounding and novelty in the morphological aspect and believes that the analysis of morphological motivation of deviated rhetoric can help people to get more implied meaning. Then the thesis illustrates two kinds of morphological motivations: deviated written symbols and motivation of graphics with linguistic signs. Graphological deviation and punctuation deviation are two main forms in deviated written symbols. Meanwhile, numbers with linguistic signs and image with linguistic signs are two subdivisions in the motivation of graphics with linguistic signs.The thesis focuses on the semantic motivation of deviated rhetoric. It holds that deviated rhetoric gets specific rhetoric effect through semantic deviation. All language expressions have two extremes in semantic levels: one is the normal usage; the other is totally the wrong expression. Deviated rhetoric, which stays between the two extremes, belongs to semantic deviation. Therefore, deviated rhetoric bears the characteristics of illogicality in meaning and recoding in context. According to the violating degree of semantic relations, the thesis subdivides the semantic motivations of deviated rhetoric into semantic adaptation and semantic contradiction, in which the process of deviated rhetoric generation is presented, which can be illustrated in the given examples.The exploration of deviated rhetoric motivation provides a new theoretical angle for the analysis of deviated rhetoric. A good comprehension of deviated rhetoric motivation will reinforce people s understanding of deviated rhetoric expressions.