| Discourse is constituted of metadiscourse and primary discourse.Metadiscourse plays a role in helping the readers to understand primary discourse.Generally,it does not have propositional meaning,but it is indispensable in any discourse.The editorials which show the position of commentators in Japanese news discourse contain a lot of metadiscourses.On the basis of 60 Japanese editorials related to Sino-US trade chosen from The Nikkei,The Asahi Shimbun,The Yomiuri Shimbun,The Mainich and The Sankei Shimbun.This thesis analyzes the types of metadiscourse,the distribution characteristics of metadiscourses and the function it serves.According to the function of metadiscourse,it is divided into three categories,namely Transitions,Evidentials and Stance markers.It is found that metadiscourse plays several metafunctions simultaneously in editorials,Evidentials mainly play the discourse function,Transitions mainly play the conceptual function,and Stance markers mainly play the interpersonal function. |
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