A Comparative Study Of The Interaction Of English And Chinese ACs In Eugene O’neill’s Dramas

Adverbial conjunctions(ACs)are a special type of words with the modifying and connective functions.The current researches on adverbial conjunctions focus on the non-interactive texts.There are few multilingual comparative studies on adverbial conjunctions in interactional texts based on the theory of interactional linguistics.Therefore,this thesis analyzes and compares the syntactic features and discourse functions of English and Chinese ACs and the interactional mechanisms of English and Chinese ACs in Eugene O’Neill’s dramas based on interactional linguistics.Through the comparative analysis,this thesis has several findings: 1.In terms of syntactic features: 1)Compared with English texts,ACs appear more frequently in Chinese texts;2)English ACs can locate at turn-initial,turn-middle and turn-final position;3)Chinese ACs rarely appear at the end of a turn.2.In terms of discourse functions: 1)English and Chinese ACs have textual cohesive function,which includes temporal sequential function,explanative function,adversative function,assertive function,inferential function,resultative function,additive function and conditional function;2)English and Chinese ACs have turn construction function,which includes opening turns or grasping turns,continuing turn and transferring turns;3)English and Chinese ACs can be used to connect topics,highlight information,express identity,provide feedback,refute information,etc.3.In terms of interactional mechanisms: 1)In terms of interactional collocation mechanisms,both Chinese and English ACs can be used to connect with themselves,other ACs,and conjunctions;2)In terms of interactional cohesive mechanism,English ACs usually locate at the beginning of a sentence,at the end of a sentence,between theme and rhyme,or between mood and residue.Chinese ACs usually locate before the subject,or after the subject.The thesis aims to do an in-depth study of the ACs in Eugene O’Neil’s dramas and tries to find out a kind of interactional mechanism of adverbial conjunctions and their functions in dramas.It hopes to help readers deeply understand the intentions of speakers under words and better grasp the character’s image,to understand the relationships between interlocutors,and then to get the authentic enjoyment of dramas.Besides,the thesis wants to provide a new perspective to study adverbial conjunctions.