A Study Of Sentential Zero Cataphora In Chinese Narrative Discourse

Based on the self-built corpus, this study attempts to investigate the generaldistributional features of sentential zero cataphora in Chinese narrative discourse andexplore its backgrounding function.First, sentential cataphora, especially sentential zero cataphora is clearly defined.On the basis of this definition, we choose three modern Chinese narrative novels fromwhich442instances of sentential cataphora are identified. The data analysis showsthat there are two patterns of sentential cataphora: zero cataphora and bare reflexivezij cataphora.424instances belong to the former, which takes overwhelmingpredominance over the latter and thus zero cataphora is the basic pattern of sententialcataphora in Chinese discourse.The general distributional characteristics of sentential zero cataphora are alsodescribed comprehensively. In terms of syntactic and semantic features, sententialzero cataphora is displayed in three aspects:1) it only occurs in clause combination;2)zero cataphor occupies the subject position and almost takes the agent thematic role;3)the clause with zero cataphor is located in sentence-initial position and highlydependent on the clause with its antecedent. In terms of discourse-pragmatic features,the clause(s) with zero cataphor is (are) subordinate to the clause with its antecedentin light of rhetorical structure of discourse.Furthermore, the backgrounding function of sentential zero cataphora in Chinesenarrative discourse is illustrated within the framework of foreground-backgroundtheory. By employing the linguistic and content criteria for foreground-backgrounddistinction, we make a detailed analysis of the construction of clauses with zerocataphor in the data. The result reveals that all clauses with zero cataphor serve as thebackground. Further elaboration on the other distributional characteristics confirmsthat sentential zero cataphora is largely motivated by the backgrounding function inChinese narrative discourse.