【作者】 唐瑞梁；

【导师】 陈治安；

【作者基本信息】 西南师范大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2005， 硕士

【摘要】 情态(modality)被认为是人类语言与思维最不易捉摸而又最基本的范畴之一,长期以来都是逻辑学、哲学研究的焦点问题。对情态的研究可以追溯到亚里士多德时期,当时研究的重点是模态逻辑(modal logic),即:必要性、可能性及其相互关系。二十世纪末,随着语言学的蓬勃发展,情态这一基本概念也引起了国内外语言学家的浓厚兴趣,导致了对情态研究的百家争鸣的局面。语言学家们从不同的研究角度,采用不同的方法对情态的诸多侧面进行了广泛的研究,包括语义学、转换生成语法、功能语法等多个分支,并取得了可观的成就。然而现有的各种研究各有其优势和局限性。本文针对语言交际中英语情态动词的使用所进行的语用研究,提出了情态动词使用的顺应模式。该模式再现了交际者对英语情态动词使用的合理过程,以及在该过程中所涉及的各种语言、社会和认知因素。 该研究理论基础是Jef Verschueren(1987,1995,1998,1999)提出并加以丰富和发展的语言顺应理论(linguistic adaptation theory)。该理论以一种全新的视角和途径对语言的使用进行考察,并以下述理论假设为基础:使用语言必须包括连续不断的做出选择,这种选择是有意识或无意识的,是由语言内部(即结构)的同时也/或者是语言外部的原因所驱动的,并且可以出现在语言形式的任何一个层面上。语言选择与语言使用中的语境相关成分是互为顺应的:语言顺应语境,或语境顺应语言或两者同时顺应。因此语言选择与语言顺应可谓“形影不离”,选择与顺应是辨正的统一:选择是手段,顺应则是目的和结果。人类之所以能够在语言使用过程中不断地做出选择并实现顺应是因为语言具有三种基本特性:变异性(Variability)、商讨性(Negotiability)与顺应性(Adaptability)。这三种特性相互联系,更多还原

【Abstract】 As one of the most elusive and fundamental categories of human language and thought, modality has always been a tough topic for researchers. The study of modality may date back to Aristotle, who focused on modal logic. In the late twentieth century, the development of linguistics witnessed the growing interest of researchers on this topic at home and abroad. Linguists, from various angles, have done extensive researches on modality with their own methods, research foci and different findings, such as Lyons (semantics), Radford (TG grammar) and Halliday (functional grammar). Naturally, these studies have their strengths and limitations. Taking these limitations into consideration, this thesis is a pragmatic analysis of the use of English modality in linguistic communication. The core of this study is the proposal of a linguistic adaptation model for the use of English modality, which reveals the rational process of the communicator’s use of English modality and integrates all the linguistic, social and cognitive elements involved in the process.The theoretical basis of the thesis is the linguistic adaptation theory, initiated and elaborated by Jef Verschueren (1987,1991,1995,1999, 2000). Verschueren’s adaptation theory develops on a general hypothesis that language use consists of the continuousmaking of linguistic choices, which exists at every possible level of structure. The linguistic choices in language use are interadaptable with their contextual correlates, for language possesses three essential properties: variability, negotiability and adaptability. These three properties are hierarchically interrelated, with the last one enjoying a higher-order. Verschueren’s general functional perspective assigns four clear tasks to pragmatic description and explanation: contextual correlates of adaptability, structural objects of adaptability, dynamics of adaptability and salience of the adaptation process. These four tasks are actually four angles of investigation, and can be seen as necessary ingredients of an adequate pragmatic perspective on any given linguistic phenomenon (Verschueren 1999: 67). Verschueren’s new interpretation of language use in communication is more powerful and comprehensive in exploring the nature of language use than any traditional analysis.This thesis applies the linguistic adaptation theory to the analysis of the use of English modality in communication. The use of modality is in fact an adapting process and a linguistic strategy that can be exploited by the language users to achieve their specific communicative goals. Therefore, this study encompasses three constituents: the variability, the negotiability and the adaptability of the use of English modality. In terms of the variability of the use of English modality, we have generalized the variations that are manifest on the phonetic and lexical level. As to the negotiability of the use of English modality, we find that the use of English modality is a rather dynamic process and all the choices are made according to highly flexible principles instead of fixed form-function relationship. As far as adaptability is concerned, the real reason why communicators choose one specific English modal verb in communication instead of the others lies in the intention of approaching or realizing their specific communicative goals. Once communicators are engaged in communication, they must bear certain purposes or goals in mind. To realize these goals, they have to adopt certain linguistic strategies, with the use of modality as an important one. We classify the objects to which the communicator’s use of English modality adapts into three categories: reality of linguistic rules, social constraints and psychological motivations. The use of English modality in linguistic communication as adaptation to reality of linguistic rules is due to the language-internal reason, while the use of English modality as adaptation to social constraints and psychological motivations are caused by language-external reasons.更多还原