A Study Of The Functions Of Chinese Conjunctions In Courtroom Discourse

As the building material of language, conjunctions are not only the basic means by which lower-level units construct high-level units, but also an important way to achieve the objectives of speakers in the language system. Based on the existing research studies both at home and abroad and with the framework of systemic functional theory, the thesis takes the courtroom interaction as the object for analysis, trying to explore the rules and mechanism of conjunctions in the implementation of semantic functions in the courtroom interaction.Based on the data of seven naturally occurring courtroom interactions, this study employs systemic functional linguistics theory as the theoretical basis to probe into the question and answer interaction for the purpose of identifying and characterizing the general rules of conjunctions in the course of courtroom conversation.The study mainly focuses on three questions:firstly, what is the relationship between the functions of conjunctions and the features of courtroom interaction; secondly, how do conjunctions reflect the three metafunctions of language in courtroom interaction; thirdly, what is the interactive model underlying the use of conjunctions, the features of courtroom interaction and the metafunctions of the language in courtroom interaction. Research shows that, the purposiveness features of courtroom interaction can be materialized by both elaboration and enhancement functions of conjunctions; while the other two features of courtroom interaction are most highlighted by the enhancement function of conjunctions. From the functional perspective, the metafunctions of language in courtroom interaction are mainly conveyed by the enhancement function of conjunctions and it tends to use less elaboration and extension functions of conjunctions.It has been found that there is a two-way relationship between the function of conjunctions and characteristics of courtroom interaction. The institutional features of courtroom interaction can be represented by the various semantic functions of conjunctions. The correct and proper use of all types of conjunctions in the courtroom interaction can reflect the characteristics of courtroom interaction. At the same time, due to the special context and different characteristics of courtroom interaction, all the parties in the court trial are required to use accurate and proper conjunctions to ensure the smooth courtroom interaction. In this sense, different semantic functions of conjunctions can be appropriately performed by all the parties so as to achieve their ultimate goal of maximum self-interests.