A Study Of The Tag Question In English From The Perspective Of Autonomy-dependence Theory

The English tag question is one of the most important sentence patterns in verbal communication, and also a critical object analyzed by linguists. From the perspectives of syntax, semantics and pragmatics, previous studies on the tag question fail to provide systematic theoretical explanations to it as a whole. This thesis has made a cognitive study of the two types of tag questions in English in terms of their autonomy-dependence alignments, their generation in meaning and form, and the similarities and differences between them, and has provided a systematic account of the two types of tag questions from the perspective of autonomy-dependence theory.Firstly, guided by the theory of autonomy-dependence, the thesis has investigated into the confirmative tag question. The result of the investigation reveals the following facts: The confirmative tag question is an autonomy-dependence alignment, in which the declarative sentence is the autonomous element, and the tag is the dependent element. The declarative sentence states what the speaker is certain about, and the tag with opposite polarity expresses a feeling of skepticism. By using the tag to ask for information from the listener, the speaker wants to confirm what he assumes in the declarative sentence.Then, the thesis has investigated into the affective tag question. The result of the investigation reveals the following facts: The affective tag question is an autonomy-dependent alignment, in which the declarative sentence is the autonomous element, and the tag is the dependent element. The declarative sentence embodies an established fact, but the speaker doesn’t accept it. He expresses his negative feeling by using a tag with the same polarity.Lastly, this thesis has made a systematic cognitive account of the similarities and differences between the confirmative tag question and the affective tag question. The thesis holds that the two types of tag questions are similar in that they are both autonomy-dependence alignments, with the declarative sentence as the autonomous element, and the tag the dependent element. They are united together to bring out a composite structure with new semantic meanings, which are generated from the autonomous element controlling the dependent element and the dependent element supplementing the autonomous element. The thesis also holds that the two types of tag questions are different from each other because the declarative sentence in the confirmative tag question shows the speaker’s assurance, asking for confirmation from the hearer in the alignment, while that in the affective tag question indicates an established fact, expressing a feeling of disapproval. Based on the extent of assurance, the rising tone and the falling tone could be used at the end of the confirmative tag question, while in the affective tag question, the rising tone is used to express suspicion and surprise, and the falling tone is used to express disappointment. Because of the differences between them, the two types of tag questions need to be selected for different contexts in accordance with what has been said above and what the speaker intends to say by using the sentence.The study made in this thesis has widened the application of the autonomy-dependence theory in syntactic research. It has reference value to the learning, using and teaching of the two types of tag questions.