A Constructionist Approach To The Study Of “X Is X After All” In Modern Chinese

By combining Construction Grammar theory and investigation on the syntactic,semantic and pragmatic features of“X is X after all”and its prototypical construction and variants,this paper draws the following conclusions.The definite phrase“after all”is a commentary adverb,“is”refers to a judgment verb,and the variable“X”is mainly a disyllabic noun.When other notional words enter,they are suppressed by the position syntax of subject and object,so the referential meaning is prominent.It not only can be used as a clause or a separate sentence,but also an object clause in a sentence.The prepositions are mainly conjunctions indicating transition or causality,as well as modal adverbs referring to association and psychological verbs.The insertion component is mainly monosyllabic adverb,which is employed as adverbial behind“after all”.The attached components are mainly modal particles.These co-occurrence elements respectively reflect the semantic relationship of“X is X after all”in the sentence or paragraph,conveying the speaker’s subjective emotion and attitude,and strengthening the mood.According to the theory of Information Structure,the object is expected to introduce new information,so in“X is X after all”with subject and object are isomorphic,the X₂in the object position is easy to trigger conceptual metonymy,referring to the typical features of X so as to state the object of subject reference.Based on the theory of referential analysis,X₁（subject）generally is the individual reference and X₂（object）is the generic reference.The meaning of the format is to highlight the basic characteristics of X on the basis of expressing positive judgment（which does not change with conditions）.In understanding“X is X after all”,the format is not self-sufficient in semantics,depending on the hearer’s cognition of X and the specific context to reduce the scope of typical features of X.When using this format,the speaker intends to persuade hearers to accept a point of view（including facts,reasons,suggestions,fundamental differences between things,etc.）or behavior,or to confirm his own opinion that has been put forward.In rhetoric,“X is X after all”has the effect of concise and implicit expression.In addition,this paper also adopts the theories of Conversational Implicature,Cognitive Schema and Metapragmatics to prove that the format has the pragmatic functions of highlighting focus,embodying modality,easing communication and connecting discourse.Diachronic analysis indicates that“X is X”is the prototype of“X is X after all”,and there is a succession relationship between them in terms of time and semantic relevance.Chi-square test shows that after adding commentary adverbs of“after all”category into the format,there is only a significant difference in the frequency of use between“X is X”and“X is X after all”,and the latter is more used in the formal style.Other adverbs,which are compatible with the judgment meaning of tautology and do not change the judgment nature of“is”,can generally enter the tautology.The interaction between different adverbs and the tautology structure,bringing value-added effect,but restricting each other.They form a construction chain with the original“X is X”featuring family similarity.