A Study Of Nominalization In Inauguration Discourses Bamerican Presidents

Grammatical metaphor is an important theory in systemic-functional grammar andnominalization is the most powerful resource for creating grammatical metaphor. Manyresearches have been conducted on nominalization from different perspectives. It isdiscovered that most previous studies are mainly conducted in the scientific andtechnological discourses. However, the studies on nominalization in inaugurationdiscourses are fewer. Thus this paper is to make a tentative study on nominalization ininauguration discourses by American presidents which includes the following two researchquestions:1) What types of nominalization are employed in inauguration discourses byAmerican presidents?2) What are the major functions of nominalization in inauguration discourses byAmerican presidents?Based on Halliday’s theory of nominalization, the inauguration addresses byAmerican presidents are chosen as the data for this paper. Quantitative and qualitativemethods are adopted during the study on nominalization. Quantitative analysis makes thestatistical analysis and categorization of nominalization possible. The functions ofnominalization in inauguration discourses are analyzed qualitatively.Through the study, the author finds that nominalizations in inauguration discoursesare mainly categorized into four types: verbal nominalization, adjective nominalization,nominalization of infinitive patterns and clausal nominalization. According to theoccurrence and frequency, these four types of nominalization can be ordered: verbalnominalization, adjective nominalization, clausal nominalization and nominalization ofinfinitive patterns. The functions of nominalizations in these discourses are: conciseness,objectivity, formality and authority. Different types of nominalization vary in function. Forexample, verbal nominalization, adjective nominalization and nominalization of infinitivepatterns can make the expression more concise and objective while the application ofclausal nominalization can make the expression more formal and authoritative.