英语论文肯尼迪就职演讲修辞分析.docx

英语论文肯尼迪就职演讲修辞分析.docx

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英语论文肯尼迪就职演讲修辞分析

Introduction

Stylisticsisthestudyoflanguagestylewithmodernlinguistictheoriesandapproaches.Functionalstylistictheoryisoneofthemostinfluentialtheoriesinrecentyears,whenlinguisticslaysmuchemphasisonthesocial-culturalcontext.TheAmericanPresidentialInauguralAddress（APIA）isaveryimportantvarietywithworldwideinfluenceandlong-lastingsignificance.Intheaddressthespeakermakesgreateffortstomakehispolicyknowntothepublicandtopersuadethepublictoacceptandsupporthispolicies.Toachievetheaims,theaddresshastoresorttolotsoflanguageskillsamongotherthings.Therefore,astylisticstudyonAPIAisextremelymeaningful.Inthepaper,thewriterattemptstoapplythetheoriesoffunctionalstylisticsintotheanalysisofAmericanpresidentKennedy’saddress,tryingtofindoutthelinguisticcharacteristicsoftheparticulardiscourseandexplainandevaluatethemwiththetheories.

1.AnIntroductiontoAmericanPresidentialInauguralAddress

Theinauguraladdressisthespeechdeliveredbythepresident-electedontheinaugurationday.

Inthespeech,forthefirsttime,thenewlyelectedpresidentwillofficiallyannouncethathewilltakeupthattheresponsibilityasthehighestexecutiveofthecountryinthenextfouryears.Inauguralsmarktheendoftheelectioncampaignandatthesametimethebeginningofanewadministration.Althoughtheinauguraladdressisnotrequiredbytheconstitution,itismadeeveryfouryearsbyallthepresidentsbeforetheytakeoffice.Ithasalreadybecomeatraditionsetbythefirstpresident—GeorgeWashington.Asarule,thenewadministrator’sphilosophyofpoliticsandtheoutlineofhispolicywillbeannouncedinhisinauguraladdress.Theinaugurationisheldasacelebrationwitnessedbymanyaudiences.

Inauguralsareofgreatsignificancebecauseofwhattheyrevealaboutthefundamentalpoliticalvalues,particularpoliticalprinciples,andenactmentofapresidentialpersona.Theirpoliticalmeaningsthusbecomeclear.Inauguraladdressesattempttopersuadethecitizensofthenationonthatthenewlyelectedpresidentisfitforthepoliticalroleandthatheisentitledtoachievehisprogrammaticobjectives.Theaddresses,then,castmuchlightonthelegitimacyofpoliticalpowerandtheworldviewsofpresidents.Theirpoliticalintentionistocallforsupportandloyaltytoapoliticalregimefrombothotherpower-holdersinthepoliticalsystemandthepublicatlargeduringtheiradministration.

2.AnIntroductiontoFunctionalStylistics

ThefunctionallinguistictheoryadvocatedbyBritishlinguist,M.A.K.Hallidayhasbeenprevailingsincethe1970s.Itiswidelyusedinstylisticanalysis.Functionalstylisticshasthreefeatures:

first,stressingtherelationshipbetweenthetextandthecontextofthesituation,andadvocatingstudyingthestyleinthesocial--culturalcontext;second,adoptingsystematic-functionalgrammarinstylisticanalysis;third,summarizingtheforegroundingtheorysystematically.Systematic-functionalgrammarisaveryusefulapproachtostylisticanalysistosomeextent,andthetheoryaboutcontextiswidelyaccepted.

“Contextofsituation”isoriginallysuggestedbyMalinowskiandsubsequentlyelaboratedbyFirthinhis1950paperPersonalityandlanguageinsociety.Essentiallywhatthisimpliesisthatlanguagecomestolifeonlywhenfunctioninginsomeenvironment.AccordingtoHalliday,thesituationistheenvironmentinwhichthetextcomestolife.Thetypeofthelanguage,whichisselectedasappropriatetothetypeofsituation,isaregister.Hesaid,“Aregistercanbedefinedastheconfigurationofsemanticresourcesthatthememberofaculturetypicallyassociateswithasituationtype.Itisthemeaningpotentialthatisaccessibleinagivensocialcontext.”（Halliday,2001:

111）Hefurtherdistinguishesthreesocialvariablesthatdeterminetheregister:

fieldofdiscourse,tenorofdiscourse,andmodeofdiscourse.

Thefieldisthesocialactioninwhichthetextisembedded;itincludesthesubject-matter,asonespecialmanifestation.Thetenoristhesetoftherolerelationshipsamongtherelevantparticipants;itincludeslevelsofformalityasoneparticularinstance.Themodereferstothemediumorwaythatthecommunicationbetweenpeoplegoes.Peopleusuallyseespeakingandwritingasthemedium.

AsfarasAPIAisconcerned,thefieldoftheAPIAispoliticalsincethenewlyinauguratedpresidentoftenusesthisaddresstolayoutgoalsandprinciples,addressthenation’sdivisions,beliefs,achievements,domesticandworld-widesituations,andprojectAmerican’splaceintheworldorfutureexpectation.

ThetenoroftheAPLAcanbedisplayedinthefollowingway.TheparticipantsintheeventarethePresidentoftheUnitedStates,asanaddresser,andallthegovernmentofficialsandallthecitizensinthecountryandevenpeopleallovertheworld,astheaddressee.

ThemodeoftheAPLAisalsodistinctinthesituation.Inthesituation,everywordintheaddressplaysaconstitutiverole.Thespeechhastofulfillsomefunctions,orconveythepresident’sattentions,i.e.tomakehisgovernmentpoliciesknowntothepublicandpersuadethepublictoacceptandsupporthisgovernment.Sothelanguageusedinthecontextismainlyinformativeandpersuasive.

3.AStylisticStudyonKennedy’sInauguralAddress

ThefollowinganalysisaimstorevealthestylisticfeaturesoftheAmericanpresidentialinauguraladdress.ItismainlybasedonM.A.K.Halliday’sfunctionalstylistictheories,especiallyonhistheoriesabout“context”.Italsoadoptssomeothercommonlyacceptedlinguistictheories.Systematicinvestigationofthelinguisticdataisacharacteristicofthispaper.Theanalysisismainlyconcernedwiththelexicallevel,syntacticlevel,textuallevelandrhetoricaldevices.Becauseofthecloserelationbetweenspeechskillandrhetoricaldevices,theanalysisontherhetoricaldeviceisalsoapartofthispaper.

3.1TheStylisticFeaturesontheLexicalLevel

Wordisabasicgrammaticalunit,whichissmallerthansentence.Thisanalysiswillbeginwiththeanalysisonthelexicallevel.

3.1.1WordStructure

Stylisticiansusuallysetsixlettersorthreesyllablesinawordasastandardtoanalyzethelengthofthewords.Thewordswithmorethansixlettersareusuallyregardedaslongwords.TheselongwordsmaybewordsofLatin,FrenchorGreekorigin,whichareusuallyformalwords.Andtheymayalsobederivationorcompoundingwords,whichhaverelativelycomplicatedstructure.

John·Fitzgerald·Kennedy’sinauguralspeechhasatotalvocabularyof1595,ofwhichthereis438wordswithmorethansixletters,accountingfor26%.InEnglish，thewordsofmorethansixlettersorthreesyllableareoftenseenasbig.ThesewordsoftencomefromtheLatin,GreekorFrench,orhaveacomplexinternalstructure.“Thepercentagesindailyconversation,instantcommentary,andevenadvertisementarenotmorethan20%”.（WangZuoliang,1987:

235）Socomparativelyspeaking,thewordsusedininauguraladdressofKennedyarequiteformalandthestructuresofthewordsaremorecomplicated.Therearetworeasonsforthis.First,thepresidentdeliberatelyusesformalwordstomakehisspeechesmoreserious.E.g.:

prosperity,discrimination,obligation.Then,theintrinsicstructuresofthewordsarequitecomplicated.Therearemanyderivationalorcompoundingwords.Thederivationfromverbstonounsisacharacteristicofthelanguageintheaddresses.Wecanfindmanysuchwords:

affirmation,aggression,celebration.Thesederivationsnotonlyhelptoformlongwordswithmorecomplicatedstructures,butalsomakethewordsintheaddressmoreformal.

Thereisalonglastingdisputethatwhetherpublicspeakingisaspokenvarietyorawrittenone.Theaboveanalysisonthelexicallevelshowsclearlythatasonetypeofpublicspeaking,Americanpresidentialaddressembodiesmorefeaturesofawrittenvariety,whichischaracteristicoflong,complicated,formalwords.Thesefeaturescorrespondwiththetenorofdiscourse:

bothconsultativeandformal,andmodeofdiscourse:

writtentobespoken.

Besidesthat,inKennedy’saddresswecanfindmanyabstractnounswithsuchsuffixesas:

-tion,-ment,-cy,-ty,fortheyusuallyrefertothestate,quality,causeorresultofanaction.Thisphenomenonisdeterminedbythefieldofdiscourse.Americanpresidentialinauguraladdressisonetypeofpublicpoliticalspeaking.Itsfieldofdiscourseispolitical.Manypoliticaltermsareabstract.ItisnaturalforKennedytousemanyabstractnounsinhisaddress.

3.1.2WordClass

Thechoiceofwordclassisdeterminedmainlybythetenor.

Thefunctionaltenorofinauguraladdressisbothpersuasiveandinformative.Intheinauguraladdress,thespeakerisnotonlytomakehisgovernmentpoliciesknowntothepublic,butalsotopersuadethepublictoacceptandsupporthispolicy.Solikeadvertisements,inauguraladdressbelongstoaloadedlanguage,whichtriggersemotionalreaction.Itshouldhavegreatpersuasivepower.Sothewordsusedintheinauguraladdressusuallycontainemotionalcolor.Thisisreflectedespeciallyintheuseofadjectivesandthefirst-personpronoun.

Adjectives

Theuseofadjectivesintheaddressismainlydeterminedbythefunctionaltenorofthelanguage.IntheaddressofKennedy,thereare105adjectives,accountingnearly7.8%inthetotalwordsof1342.Thispercentageisobviouslyhigherthanthatinstantcommentary,whichis5%.（WangZuoliang，1987:

221）Mostoftheadjectivesaresubjectiveandemotionalwords,suchas:

fruitful,peaceful,great,powerful,solemn,hard,steady.

Thisisdeterminedbythefun