This dissertation is a contrastive study of the semantics, pragmatics, and discourse functions of demonstratives in English and Chinese.It is shown that there is a metaphorical relationship between the basic semantic properties of demonstratives and their various uses in the two languages. The proximal demonstrative tends to be used for spatial, temporal, or emotional closeness, or for a foregrounded referent, whereas the distal demonstrative is usually used for spatial, temporal, or emotional remoteness, or for a backgrounded referent. However, details of the metaphorical extensions in the two languages may vary. Functional differences between demonstrative pronouns and neuter pronouns in English and Chinese are also discussed. It is shown that demonstrative pronouns tend to code a higher degree of topic discontinuity or topic change, and neuter pronouns a greater degree of topic continuity in the two languages.In addition to contributing to an understanding of the basic factors governing the uses of demonstratives in English and Chinese, which could be used as a basis for further cross linguistic study, this research should also have some pedagogical value for teaching both English and Chinese as foreign languages. / Department of English
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/182234 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Zhang, Min |
| Contributors | Riddle, Elizabeth M. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | iii, 139, [9] leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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