功能语法论文.docx

功能语法论文.docx

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功能语法论文

FunctionalAnalysisofInterpersonalGrammaticalMetaphorunderDifferentSocialContexts

MaXiaoyuan

（LiaoningNormalUniversity,Departmentofforeignlanguages,Dalian）

Abstract:

interpersonalmetaphorisoneoftheimportantpartsofHalliday’sgrammaticaltheory,whichincludestwoparts：

metaphorofmoodandmetaphorofmodality.Thisessaymakesananalysisofthefunctionsofinterpersonalmetaphorfromvarioussocialcontexts.

Keywords:

interpersonalgrammaticalmetaphor;functions;socialcontexts

Ⅰ.Introduction

Hallidaypointsoutthatlanguagepossessthreemainmeta-functions:

ideationalmetafunction,interpersonalmetafunctionandthetextualmetafunction,andalsodividedthegrammaticalmetaphorintointerpersonalgrammaticalmetaphorandexperientialgrammaticalmetaphor.Andinterpersonalgrammaticalmetaphorjustreferstothemetaphoricalphenomenonthatoccursduringtheinterpersonalcommunicationevent.Itiswidelyusedasawayoflanguageusingtoestablishandmaintainbetterrelationswithotherpeopleinvolvingnon-congruentwaysofenactinginteraction.Soitcanbringsmanydifferentfunctionsandbenefitswhenusedinvarioussocialsituations

Ⅱ.Interpersonalmetaphor

Interpersonalmetaphorhasmetaphorofmoodandmetaphorofmodality.

Themetaphorofmoodmayexplainaphenomenonthatwhysometimesmoodchoicesandspeechrolesdon’talwayscoincide.Forexample:

couldyougetmeadrink?

awordswhichyousaidtoapersonisakindofindirectspeechactshiftingademandforgoods-and-servicestoaquestionabouttheotherperson’sability,theeffectisthereforesoftenthedemand.Onemoreexample：

Whatistheuseoftherulesifnooneobeysit?

Thissuperficialquestionrealizedintheinterrogativemoodisactuallyastatement,whichistypicallyrealizedinthedeclarativemood.Withthismetaphoricalstepanexchangeofgoodsorservicesisconstitutedasanexchangeofinformation．Andinsomecontexts,theusingofmetaphorofmoodwillshowmorepolitenessandconsultationthananyothernormalmood,so,itbroadensthefunctionoflanguagefromthesemanticperspective.

Andthenisthemetaphorofmodality.Modalityistheexpressionofthespeaker’sattitudetowardsthelikelihoodornecessityoftheproposition,andiscongruentlyrealizedbymodalverbs,andmodalmetaphorjustreferstothemodalmeaningreflectedbytheclausewhichisoriginallyembodiedbythemodalverbs,modaladverbsortheextendedpartofthepredicate.Forexample:

A:

Youaresupposedtocomeheretomorrow．B:

Itisexpectedthatyoucomeheretomorrow.SentenceBisamodalmetaphorbecausethemodalmeaningofextendedpartofpredicate“supposedto”isshowedbytheclause“itisexpected”.Andthebasicdistinctionthatdetermineshoweachtypeofmodalitywillberealizedis“orientation”.Orientationisthedistinctionbetweensubjectiveandobjectivemodality，andtheexplicitandimplicitvariants.Hallidaystates，Theexplicitlysubjectiveandexplicitlyobjectiveformsofmodalityareallstrictlyspeakingmetaphorical.

Ⅲ.Interpersonalmetaphorindifferentsocialcontextsandit’sfunctions

（1）Inadvertisements

AdvertisingEnglishisaveryusefulvariantofmodernEnglishforaparticularfunctionwithhighcommercialvalue.Inordertogettingthestrongeffectofguidanceandpersuasion,thedesignersoftheadvertisementalwaysuseaspecialmethodinlanguagetoshowtheinterpersonalrelationsandgetthetrustofthecustomers.So,interpersonalmetaphorsarewidelyusedinadvertisinglanguage.herearetheexamples：

A.Areguidebookstheonlywaytoacity’ssoul?

HaveyoudrivenaFordlately?

Advertisingisanadjuncttomodernbusiness.Itspurposeistoprovideconsumerswithproductinformation;therefore,theadvertisinglanguageshouldbenormallydeclarativesentences,butinfactwecanusuallyseealotofimperativesentencesorquestionsinads.Thisisjustanexampleofmetaphorofmoodinit.Thequestionsintheadscanbeonlyansweredbythereadersthemselves,andit’sausefulwaytoarousethecuriosityofthem.

Sometimesadvertisementsjustshowtheiropinionsthroughsomesuggestionsorhidethesubjectivetraces,likethisairservicesad:

B.Itseemsthatgivingtoawideselectionoffirstrunmoviesmusicvideos，news，gamesandsportswillmakeyourtriprelaxingandenjoyable.

Thisexplicitlyobjectiveformofmodalitytotallyhidesthesubjectivewillandcanbringtheattentionandtrustofthecustomers.Variouskindsofexpressionsthroughinterpersonalmetaphorbroadenthepotentialofandattractmorecustomers,whicharejustthepurposeofadvertisingEnglish,andanalysisoftheinterpersonalmetaphorinadvertisinglanguagecanalsodeepenourunderstandingandimproveourwritingskillaboutit.

（2）Inthemilitarynews

Intheanalysisofmilitarynewsdiscourse,itisfoundthatinterpersonalmetaphorsaremainlyexpressedthroughthemetaphorofmodality,theuseofmetaphorofmoodisveryrare,whichmaybecausethefeatureofmilitarynewsdiscourseistoreportthetruth,andbyusingmuchmoredeclarativesentencescanplaybetterthefunctionoftransmittinginformationofnews.Andthetwoformsofmetaphorofmodality:

boththeexplicitlysubjectiveandtheexplicitlyobjectiveformsofitenhancetheobjectivityandcredibilityofmilitarynews.Herearetheexamplesofmetaphorofmodalities:

A.Major-GeneralBarneyWhite-Spannersaid,“Ithinkwe’regettingclosetowhatweintendtodoinsouthernIraq.”

Mr.KhantoldanaudienceattheInternationalInstituteforStrategicStudiesinLondon,“...I’mafraidthatthelongerthewargoeson,themorepeoplewillberadicalized.”

B.ItwouldbewrongtoassumethatZardariwillgoeasyonmilitantsjustbecauseofthatonedeal,howeverrepellent.

Itisunclear,however,whetherMPswillgivethestatus-of-forcesagreementthegreenlight,withsomepoliticiansdemandingthatthetextbeputtoapublicreferendum.

Theformerisusuallyrealizedindirectspeech,expressingtheviewsofsomeauthorities,andalsotosomeextentrepresentsthemodaldirectionsofthereporters,becausethewordsarequotedornotisintheircontrol.Butthelattermakestheopinionofthereportersanunquestionedfact,becausethesourceofmodalityisconcealedandtheobjectiveevaluationisemphasized.

（3）Inbusinessnegotiation

Inbusinessnegotiations,theinteractionbetweennegotiatorsliesinthewordsandattitudes.Asinglewordoratonecanaffecttheresponsesofbothsides;it’ssubtleandinfluential,therefore,thetoneuseinthenegotiationdeservesyourcarefulattention,itshouldbecourteous,tactfulandinareasonablemanner.Comparethefollowingtwosentences:

A.（a）Wecannotmakeaprofitwiththosenumbers.

（b）Howwecanmakeaprofitwiththosenumbers．

Sentence（b）hereusesthemetaphorofmoodbyaskingaquestiontoreplacethefactthat“wecannotmakeaprofitwiththosenumbers”,it’smildandnon-threatening,turningthecensureintosoftcomplaintssubtlywithoutanyharshfeelings.Ithelpsyoutoadheretoyourprincipleandalsoavoidthesturdy.Anotherexample；

B.（a）youarewrong／Idon’tagreewithyou．

（b）Let’slookatthisanotherway．

Herethesentence（b）avoidstheuseofdirectrebuttalwordsbutinasuggestivetone;inducethenegotiatortorethinkaboutthequestioninadifferentattitude.So,usingthismetaphorofmoodcanhelpyouachieveyourgoalwithoutoffendingtheotherpart.

TherearealsomanymetaphorofmodalitiesinnegotiationEnglish：

C.Ifyoucan,Ithinkwecandiscussthisfurther．

Youcanusethissentenceifyouwanttomakeacompromisetobreakthecurrentsituationwhenthenegotiationfallsintoanimpasse.Usingtheexplicitlysubjectivemodality“Ithink......”istotelltheotherpart“wecancontinuetonegotiateifweagreetothiscondition”,Pointoutthattherearesomepossibilitiesandalsooutoftheshacklesofcommitment.Anothermetaphorofmodality:

D.Itseemstomewe’regivinguptoomuchinthiscase．

Thissentencereplacethewordsthat“you’regivingustheshortendhere”．Useacalmandeasytonetopointoutthefact;itavoidstheembarrassmentoftheconditionlikecursingeachotherwhenbothpartsknowwellaboutthetruth,ithelpstoreducetheblameandeasetheconfrontation.

（4）Inthetechnologicaltexts

Inthetechnologicaltexts,theinformationisusuallyillustratedthroughthewritingmaterialbutnotfacetofaceinteractionsbetweenthewriterandthereader.Butwecanalwaysfindsomequestionsinthetext,anditisobviouslythatit’stheidealreaderswhoarecreatedbythewriteraskthequestionsbutnotthewriterhim/herself.Anditisametaphorofmoodbutnotarealquestion,forexample：

A.Isnotωsuchanelementofrealityanddowenotassumethenitsexistencetostartwith?

Theansweristhattheω’Srepresentonlyanecessarytooltocountandaverageallmeasurementscorrectly．

Inthiscase,thewriterismoreaninformationproviderthanapersonwhoreallyneedsit;theinterrogativemoodreflectsthestatementfunctionhere,havinganinteractionwiththereadersthroughthemetaphoricalexpressions,liketheexampleabove,canmakeiteasierforthereadertoacceptthetheoriesthathavepresentedbythewriter.

Itisalwaysthoughtthatmodalityshowsthesubjectivity,butinfactitshowstheeffortsthatthespeakershavemadeforthetruthvalueoftheirspeech.Theirspeechcanbeseenasadirectreflectionofthefactandtosomeextentreflectsthecognitiveviewofnon-modal.So,themodalityinthetechnologicaltextscanbeseenastheeffortsthatthewriterhasmadetoshowthetruthlevelandobjectivityinhis/herdiscourse.Forexample:

B.itislikelyth