Research On Basic Types Of Statement-Statement Adjacency Pairs

Natural discourse is the subject of conversation analysis. Among the research, research about adjacency pairs plays a very important role. The current study pays more attention to typical adjacency pairs such as question-answers. But in fact, in daily conversation, the phenomenon that the declarative sentences act as turn units, conducting turn-pairing and turn-taking, both serving as an initiation and response, is extremely common, which means the first part and the second part are composed of declarative sentences, However, there is merely special study about this phenomenon. As a result, this paper makes an attempt to do some research about this phenomenon.In this paper, the statement-statement adjacency pairs (statement pairs for short) are analyzed based on conversation analysis and link structure and through the comparison with question-answer pairs. On the basis of the definition, this article focuses on the internal of the statement pairs, to figure out how the response turn be relevant to the initiation turn and what the Semantic form, which is formed after the Semantic link, will be. Through comparison, the specific features of statement pairs are highlighted, these features are shown in a complete and authentic discourse, which shows the combined usage of statement pairs and question-answer pairs.This thesis composed of five chapters:Chapter1:introduction.In this chapter, the origin of the study and literature review is mentioned, together with corpus sources, research method and research merit.The literature review involves ontological study and case study of adjacency pairs, together with the study of Q-A pairs, which is set as reference to compare with statement pairs. Also, corresponding instructions about the Link Structure of discourse are presented in this chapter, which can provide support and guidance for the research of this paper. The differences of the link structure used in the dialogue are pointed out.Chapter2:the basic types of statement pairs.Chapter2is the core part of this paper. As is known to all, the research object of this article is statement pairs. The definition of the statement pairs is extremely important. Generally, a statement turn unit is consists of a statement or declarative sentences. The essential semantic function of statement is giving information, in order to achieve the goal of expressing and telling. As a result, the interactive mode in statement pairs is "state-state"In this chapter, the statement pairs are analyzed mainly from the perspective of the meaning of semantic content, to find out how the semantic link of the response turn and the initiation turn can be realized. Using the function attributes of statements from Halliday as reference, the final research result shows that, on the basis of understanding and approving the semantic information, there are two basic types of semantic link:approval and denial. More specifically, they can be divided into twelve concrete types:refutation, rectification, supplement, insertion, assumption, evaluation, inference, transition, equivalence, illustration, comparison, and summary. It means that, for an initiation turn, there may be twelve reasonable responds. And all the semantic types can be used together, which means that they can exist in a same respond turn.When it comes to the semantic form which is formed after the semantic link, link structure is used to present the sequence of simple statement pairs and complex statement pairs separately. In a statement pair, mainly the one-to-one and many-to-many symmetrical structure and one-to-many radiation structure are existed. In the sequence of complex statement pairs, three kinds of structures are typically used, namely the pluralism link structure, the chain link structure and the radial link structure (cross-turn). The function of pluralism turn is fully reflected. It means that one turn can not only be the respond of the last turn, it can also be the initiation of the next turn. The semantic types mentioned above are used with these forms at a certain propensity matching.Chapter3:the comparison of statement pairs and Q-A pairs.The Q-A pairs are set as reference to be compared with statement pairs. The comparison mainly focuses on three aspects:the link node of initiation turn, the linked node of respond turn, the pair structure as a whole.The characteristics of statement pairs are listed below:1. The statement pairs contain large number of link nodes, which are unfixed and are not that transparent. However, the link nodes of Q-A pairs are obviously fixed with strong mandatory.2. The linked nodes of statement pairs have the features such as openness, diversity and initiative while the Q-A pairs tend to be close, passive and simple.3. The difference also exists in the structures of the two pairs. There is almost no one-to-many structure in Q-A pairs. The structures used in statement pairs tend to be multiple and open. When it comes to the Q-A pairs, the usage of the structures are limited.Chapter4:the combined usage of statement pairs and Q-A pairs in complete and authentic discourses.Real discourses are presented to show the diversity of semantic types and structures. The large amount of pluralism turns is highlighted. Through comparison with Q-A pairs, the diversity of semantic structures of statement pairs are emphasized.The analysis of authentic discourses proves the general existence of statement pairs. The function of statement pairs in building turns is also highlighted. It proves that, the statement pair can not only be used as respond turn, it can also be treated as initiation turn and respond turn to generate the sequence of statement pairs. As a result, the coherent dialogue is completed and the intention to pass information and to communicate is realized.Chapter5:summarize the main viewpoints of this thesis and put forward the insufficient and future improvement.