A Semogenesis-based Study Of English And Chinese Grammatical Metaphor

Hallidayan extension of traditionally lexical to lexicogrammatical metaphor indicates the birth of the significant notion Grammatical Metaphor(GM)within Systemic Functional Linguistics(SFL),embodying the inherent power of language to realign semantics onto lexicogrammar.This realignment can give rise to not only "congruent" but "metaphorical"forms so that it extends the meaning potential.Particularly,the meaning-creating process is progressively accomplished,which can be explored in the diachronic semogenic framework,as semogenesis,proposed by Halliday and Matthiessen,describes the development of meaning in logogenetic,ontogenetic and phylogenetic time frames.Hallidayan theoretical combination of these two theories in English scientific writings has been the most compelling motif to this study.Since semogenesis-based study on GM comes down to the exploration of both internal(such as transitivity system and linguistic properties)and external(such as cognition and language development)factors that affect GM deployment and is confined to most investigated English,the assumption that distinct languages may shape some far-reaching differences on GM occurrence,prompts us to conduct a contrastive study.Due to much difficulty in separating semantics from lexicogrammar as a result of their realization relationship and in describing the whole semantic system,our study collects some authentic English scientific extracts and their Chinese translations to probe into how English and Chinese GMs are deployed in the unfolding of a text within discrepant meaning-constructors among distinct histories of language development.In accordance with the three time frames,the conduction of our study falls into three steps.First,as a clause is the most elementary configuration in a discourse,the logogenetic investigation details transitivity system analysis(clause as representation)and thematic structure(clause as message);next comes the calculation of GM extent,the ratio of number of GM instances to that of clauses in English and Chinese extracts to quantify the relationship between levels of individual cognition and GM deployment;at last,interactive metaphorizing and de-metaphorizing processes across and within languages are presented by means of Immediate Constituent Analysis.The major findings are as follows:1.As for thematic comparison,English prefers simple theme with fewer multiple themes or clause as themes;by contrast,simple theme and clause as theme take up relatively equal proportion in the Chinese version;as for transitivity system comparison,English and Chinese differ in the realizations of semantic units(Process,Participant,Circumstance,Relator).Specifically,first,material process takes up the largest proportion whereas the relational and mental processes rank second and third.Contrastively,material and relational processes are equally employed as the metaphorically favorite types in Chinese versions.Next,when the clauses are metaphorically realized by nominal groups as the Participant,English needs to go through larger textual distance.Moreover,less explicitness of English prepositions as circumstantial elements endows its GM occurrence with less constraints.Lastly,English has a bias for logical auxiliaries embedded inside the verbal group,which are more frequently achieved by means of tactic relationship in Chinese.2.That the GM extent in English extracts is 0.99(approximate to 1),larger than that in Chinese(0.55),indicates greater degree of metaphoricity in English texts.Additionally,the reduction of metaphorical to congruent forms hints the more abstract way of expressing identical ideational meaning in English texts than in the Chinese version.In these two senses,English scientific writers possess higher ability of categorization.3.Across languages,Chinese seems more de-metaphorized relevant to English originals whereas within languages metaphorizing and de-metaphorizing processes interactively occur to extend the meaning potential in language development.4.The three time frames of semogenesis can cooperate to influence GM occurrence.The less explicit English themes and the bias for material processes in English transitivity system endow GM occurrence with more possibilities,thus engendering most metaphorization of the English original.Conducting the present research offers us some implications for translation,foreign language reading and writing as well as pedagogy.Firstly,we can choose the most appropriate translation strategy among equally functional,cognitive or constructive principles to get through complex terminologies involving GMs in scientific genre.Secondly,students should be capable of generalizing,abstracting and metaphorizing complex phenomena in a more compact way.Finally,teachers can revert the metaphorical form into relatively natural one to provide students with more convenience of understanding.