西方语言学论文adiachronicanalysisofthemerhemetheory.docx
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西方语言学论文adiachronicanalysisofthemerhemetheory
西方语言学论文adiachronicanalysisofthemerhemetheory
西方语言学论文adiachronicanalysisofthemerhemetheoryADiachronicAnalysisofTheme/RhemeTheory1.Introduction2.LiteratureRiview3.AnalysisofTheme/RhemeideasbyWeil,Mathesius,FirbasandHalliday3.1HenriWeil3.2Mathesius3.3Firbas3.4Halliday(每部分包括个人的理论基础、定义、贡献、不足四小部分)4.Conclusion1.IntroductionTheme/Rhemetheoryisanimportantfunctionallinguistictheoryandappliedinmanyareas,suchasEnglishteaching,translationstudiesetc.whilemoreandmoreattentionisdrawnintoitsapplication,theresearchtoitshistoryanddevelopmentseemstobekindofneglected,.However,theknowledgeofthehistorywilldefinitelyforitsuseasawhole.Outofthisreason,thispaperwillmakeadiachronicstudyofThemeandRhemetheory.Uptonow,theresearchesaboutThemeandRhemefocusonitsapplication,especiallytheapplicationofHalliday’stheory.Besides,someliteratureisaboutthehistory,buttheyareonlyconcernedwithpartofthehistoryofdevelopment.Afullresearchisstillblank.Inthiscase,thispaperisnecessary.Thefollowingpartcanbedividedintoparts:
2.Literaturereview3.AnalysisofTheme/RhemeideasbyWeil,Mathesius,FirbasandHallidayThetermsofThemeandRhemaretheproductoffunctionallinguistics.Tobeexact,itoriginatesfromthefounderofPragueSchool,Mathesius.RelevantresearchesalsotakeMathesiusastheinitioatorofTheme/RhemeandtheirresearchesbeginwithMathesius.However,Mathesius’ideasaboutThemeandRhemearemainlyinspiredbyanotherFrenchscholar,HenriWeil.Therefore,afullstudyofthedevelopmentofTheme/RhemecannotneglectWeil.Inthiscase,theprominentscholarswhomakeremarkablecontributiontoTheme/RhemetheoryisWeil,Mathesius,FirbasandHalliday.Inthispart,IwillillustrateTheme/Rhemeofthefourresearchersfromfourpointsofview:
thetheoteticalbase,thedefinitionofTheme/Rheme,thecontributions,andtheproblems.Ofthefour,thefirsttwoarejustobjectivedescriptionsofthetheorywhilethelasttwoaremainlypersonalideastobeshared.3.1HenriWeilHenriWeilisthepioneerinthefieldofFunctionalSentencePerspective(FSP)andhisideasarethechiefinspirationtoMathesiusideas.FunctionalSentencePerspective(FSP)isatheoryoflinguisticanalysiswhichreferstoananalysisofutterances(ortexts)intermsoftheinformationtheycontain.ThistheoryisthebasisofWeil’sideasandfromthenon,thefollowingthreepeoplealltakeFSPastheirtheoreticalfoundation.AccordingtoWeil,themovementofideasisexpressedbythewordorder,whilethesyntacticalmovementbyterminations(endings).Inhisopinion,asentencecontainsapointofdeparture(aninitialnotion)andagoalofdiscourse.Thepointofdepartureisequallypresenttothespeakerandtothehearer—itistheirrallyingpoint,thegroundonwhichtheymeet.ThisiscalledtheTheme.Thegoalofdiscoursepresentstheveryinformationthatistobeimpartedtothehearer.ThisiscalledtheRheme.Weilclaimedthatthemovementfromtheinitialnotion(Theme)tothegoalofdiscourse(Rheme)revealsthemovementoftheminditself.Languagemayusedifferentsyntacticconstructions,buttheorderofideasremainsbasicallythesame.WeilalsofoundthatusuallytheThemestandsbeforeRheme,butsometimesthegoalofdiscoursegoesbeforetheinitialnotion.Weilcalledthelatteronethepathetic(emotional)orderandlookeduponitasavehicleofemotion.PersonalanalysisFromthetheoryWeilbasesonandhisdefinitionofTheme/Rheme,wecanseethatTheme/Rhemeisoriginallydefinedfromtheviewpointofgiven(known)andnewinformation.Moreover,hisTheme/Rhemeistotallydependentontheinformationstatusandfreefromthelinearrestrictions.Therefore,hisTheme/Rhemecanoccurinanyplaceofthesentence.ThecriteariatojudgeTheme/Rhemeisonlywhetheritisknownornotbybothspeakerandreader.However,accordingtoWeil,nomatterhowthesentenceisorganized,theprocessinmindsisalwaysintheprocessoffromThemetoRheme.TheyputRhemeinfrontofThemeisjustbecauseoftherequirementsofspecialsituationwhichlayafoundationforHalliday’stheorytodistinguishbetweenunmarkedandmarkedthemes.Inaword,accordingtoWeil,thegiveninformationisThemewhilethenewinformationisRheme.Itisthedefinitioninthelevelofmindbutnotthesyntacticalrestrictions.3.2MathesiusMathesius,thefounderofPragueSchool,alsotakesFSPashistheoreticalfoundation.Thedifferenceisthathecalleditasthetheoryofactualdivision.Heconceivedofthesentencefromthepointofviewoftheinformationitconveyed.Inthe1930s,Mathesiusrevisedtraditionalgrammaticaltermssuchassubjectandpredicate,andreplacedthemwithafunctionallinguisticapproach:
ThemeandRheme.Hearguedthatitconsistsoftwobasicparts.ThefirstpartistheTheme,whichissomethingalreadyknownfromtheprecedingcontextorasinformationtakenforgranted,andwhichdoesnotcontributeanythingnewtotheinformationtobetransmitted.ThesecondpartistheRheme,whichcontainsallthenewinformationtobetransmittedandsubstantiallyenrichesthehearer’sknowledge.WordorderprinciplePersonalanalysisComparedwithWeil’sideas,Mathesiustheoryhasthefollowingfeatures:
first,likeWeil,heisalsoseenitfromtheperspectiveofinformationconveyed.Second,hisdefinitioniskindofdifferentfromthatofWeil’sinthatitisdefinedbasedonthreecriteiria.:
(a).Theme/Rhemepositioninthesentenceisrestrictedbythelineararrangement,thatis,thefirstpartofthesentenceisThemeandthesecondpartisRheme.刘润清封宗信alsoexplainedthispointbytheexampleof“John”killedMary.(b).hisThemeshouldbetheknowninformationwhiletheRhemeisthenewinformation,thispointisthesameasthedefinitionofWeil.(c).itisalsoconsideredfromtheperspectiveofthecontributionThemeandRhemehaveforthedevelopmentofcommunication.ThispointarousestheinterestofFirbastoexplorethelawsdeterminingthedistributionofinformation,andthenthecommunicativedynamismisinitiated.IfWeil’sdefinitionofThemeandRhemeiscompletelydeterminedbythemind,Mathesius’definitioncombinesthemovementofmindandthesyntacticalrepresentation.ThereforehisTheme/Rhemearedefinedbyitspositioninthesentenceanditisknownornot.ItseemsthatMathesius’definitionismorecomprehensive,butactuallytheserestrictionsincurmanyquestions.ProblemsAccordingtoMathesius,theThemeshouldbethefirstpartofthesentenceandalsotheknowninformation.However,inreality,thisisnotalwaysthecase.Itsometimesoccursthatthefirstpartofthesentenceisalsonewtospeakerandhearer.Wecanalsotake“JohnkilledMary”forexample.Ifitisapieceofnews,boththespeakerandtheaudiencedonotknowwhoJohnandMaryare.Inthiscase,theessentialinformationisnotMaryorKilledMary,buttheeventthatsomeonekilledsomeone.Inthisway,Mathesius’definitioncontradictstoeachother,buthedidnotprovideanyrankfortheimportanceofthethreecritearia.ThisproblemseemstobesolvedbyFirbastosomedegree.3.3FirbasAlsotakingFSPasthegeneraltheoreticalbackground,Firbas’researchmainlyfocusesonthelawsdeterminingthedistributionofdegreeofCDoverlinguisticelementscapableofcarryingthem.Thatistosay,hisresearchconcentratesonthedistributionofCD.ByCD,Firbasreferstoapropertyofcommunicationdisplayedinthecourseofthedevelopmentoftheinformation.ThedegreeofCDistheeffectcontributedbyalinguisticelement,ortheextenttowhichtheelementcontributestothedevelopmentofthecommunication,forit“pushesthecommunicationforward”.FirbassaidthatalllinguisticelementsarecapableofcarryingdegreesofCDaslongastheyconveysomemeaning.FirbasdefinedFSPas“thedistributionofvariousdegreesofCD”whichcanbeexplainedas:
theinitialelementsofasequencecarrythelowestdegreeofCD,andwitheachstepforward,thedegreeofCDbecomesincrementaltilltheelementthatcarriesthehighest.Thus,therulemaybe:
theThemeatthebeginning,theTransitioninthemiddle,andtheRhemeattheendofthesentence.PersonalanalysisComparedwiththeabovetwopeople,Firbas,likethem,adheretoFSP,anddevelopFSPtoadeeperlevel,thatis,hehasagoodresearchonthedistributionofinformation,whichisvaluedbyCD.Inhisopinion,Anyelement---sentence,phrase,word,morpheme–maybesingledoutinordertoestablishasharpopposition(contrast).Take“JohnWASreadingthenewspaper”forexample.Thestressed“WAS”indicatesitistheinformationthatistobeimparted,inoppositiontothepresenttense,andthatallotherelementsaregiveninformation.Inthisway,accordingtoWeil’sdefinitionofTheme/Rheme,“WAS”theThemepartandallotherpartsareRheme.However,intheviewpointofMathesius,thecaseisdifferentbecauseMathesius’Themeshouldbegiveninformationbutalsothefirstpartofthesentence.Forthissentence,Firbas’explanationisthattheonlyelementconveyingnewinformationiscontextuallyindependent,whereasalltheotherelementsconveyingknowninformationarecontextuallydependent.ElementsbecomecontextuallydependentandinconsequencecarrythelowestdegreeofCD.Theyassumethisfunctionirrespectiveofthepositiontheyoccupywithinthelineararrangement.ThisindicatesthattheThemenotnecessarilyoccurattheinitialplace.Therefore,strictlyspeaking,Firbas’sdefinitionismuchmoresimilartoWeil’sideasforTheme/Rheme.FirbasexplainedTheme/Rhemefromthecontex