A Study Of Catchwords From The Perspective Ofpragmatic Adaptation Theory

Taking the top ten catchwords annually selected by the magazine Yao Wen Jiao Zi from 2008 to 2015 as the linguistic data,from the perspective of Verschueren's pragmatic adaptation theory,this thesis focuses on the study of the three features of catchwords: variability,negotiability and adaptability.Firstly,the adaptation theory holds that language use is a process from choosing to adaptation.The variability which means the choosability of language is the premise of language adaptation.Through analyzing,this research finds out that the choosability of catchwords reflects in two aspects: form variation and meaning variation.Specifically speaking,form variation of catchwords mainly includes analogy variation,syntagmatic variation and paradigmatic variation,while,meaning variation of catchwords can be divided into semantic generalization variation and semantic holographic variation.Secondly,the research thinks that the negotiability of language is the foundation.Without negotiability(modifiability),there is no choosing and adaptation of language.Through analyzing,the research finds out that the negotiability of catchwords embodies in the space-time range of language use.It refers to effective operation of catchwords,the material carrier of thoughts and emotions,in material world which is composed of the time dimension and the space dimension and this operation leads to a kind of dynamic adaptation.Lastly,the adaptability of catchwords is the highest standard of language use.Without selective adaptation,it is impossible to achieve the final goal of adaptability.The research finds out that the adaptability of catchwords reflects the adaptation to people's mental world,the internal one,and the adaptation to complicated social world,the external one.In detail,pursuing of novelty,conformity and simplicity promotes the generation of catchwords,and accelerates its spreading,and eventually makes them fade away.Furthermore,the complicated social world interweaved by political life,economic life as well as cultural life has become fertile soil that generates various catchwords,and constantly injects new elements in catchwords.It is the adaptability of catchwords that makes catchword users has more choices to adapt to different contexts in the process of communication and to achieve effective communication.In conclusion,this thesis tries to analyze catchwords by the perspective of pragmatic adaptation theory,so that people can have a better understanding of the generation mechanism and popularization regulations of catchwords and know more about the relationship between language and humans,language and society.Hope it is a good way to develop a new pragmatic scrutiny perspective to enrich the study of catchwords.