【作者】 潘珣祎；

【导师】 黄华新；

【作者基本信息】 浙江大学 ， 语言学及应用语言学， 2010， 博士

【摘要】 话题是语言学研究中的一个重要课题,自从赵元任先生将话题的概念引入汉语研究以来,语言学家们从不同的角度对其进行过研究。以往的研究关心的或是话题本身的特征,或是话题结构内部话题与述题在句法及语义上的联系,却很少关注话题结构在真实会话中体现的特征与功能,这为本文留下了很大的探索空间。本文从语用与认知的角度,对真实语言材料中的话题结构进行细致全面的观察。本文采用电视访谈会话语料进行研究,希望从中了解三个方面的信息：其一话题结构在会话中的信息特征；其二,话题结构在会话中体现的话语功能；其三,影响话题结构使用的认知语用因素,以及话题结构在使用中体现的语用策略。在此基础上,本文尝试用认知语法的理论对话题结构作出分析与阐释。本文主要做了以下几方面的研究工作。首先,我们对“话题”、“话题结构”等概念进行了界定,并依此析出会话语料中的话题结构小句,根据其特征进行分类。我们将话题结构分为左偏置结构、话题化结构与汉语式话题结构三类,根据对其内部特征的观察,又将其细分为次类别。其次,从话题信息认知状态与话题接续两个角度,我们对话题结构在会话中的信息特征进行了观察。综合考虑语篇语境以及情景语境,我们经过统计发现绝大多数话题信息都是话语中已激活的信息,在话语中活跃程度高。我们同时关注了不同信息认知状态相应的话题表达形式,基于其频率统计,我们将现代汉语名词性短语按已知性高低进行排列,作为对已知性等级理论在现代汉语中应用的调整。从接续情况看,多于半数话题结构的话题信息在后续话语得到接续,接续的形式与接续信息在小句中的位置相关,主要以代词和名词词组为主。三类话题结构中,话题化结构的话题已知性程度最高；左偏置结构则恰恰相反,它引入新信息成为后续议题的频率最高。第三,本文从话语结构及话语内容两方面梳理了话题结构的话语功能。在话语结构方面,我们认为话题结构可以承担在起始话步确立议题以及在维持话步继续议题的功能。话题结构在会话话步的分布特征与前文所述的信息特征体现出了一致性,尤为突出的是左偏置结构,这类结构在起始话步较其他两类话题结构更常见,印证了其引入议题并确立议题的话语功能。在话语内容方面,话题结构凸显了话题与会话中其他实体间的逻辑关系,包括了对比、相似、包含、总结等关系。我们同时还发现,话语内容上逻辑关系的凸显对话语的影响具有局部性的特征。第四,我们结合本文所用语料的突出特征,梳理了影响话题结构使用的认知语用因素及使用中体现的交际策略。我们认为话题结构的重要认知语用动因是认知凸显,其具体表现与话题的信息强度及信息量两个方面有关,这同时也是遵守省力原则的表现。话题结构的使用也体现了说话人语用策略的运用,包括互动策略与礼貌策略。前者反映在说话人以话题为会话支架进行话语构建以及用话题结构对会话进行柔性控制；后者则主要表现为说话人用话题结构进行委婉表达。我们认为,这些策略的表达和话题与述题之间关系松散的特征有关。第五,我们用认知语法理论对话题结构进行了统一阐释。从认知语法的角度,话题结构可以用参照点的概念进行解释。话题为参照点,而认知目标则是整个述题。结合射体-界标的理论,我们认为三类话题结构的差别在于：左偏置结构中参照点与目标中的射体或者界标相关联；话题化结构中参照点同时承担着射体或界标的角色；而汉语式话题结构的识解过程则需要对参照点和目标进行非明示关系推理。依照参照点及射体-界标模式,基于前文对话题结构信息特征及话语功能的总结,我们构建了话题结构在话语空间动态更新中的信息贡献图示。更多还原

【Abstract】 Since the introduction of the concept "topic-comment" to research on Mandarin Chinese, abundant research has focused on referential features of topic or syntactic and semantic properties of topic-comment structures at the sentence level, whereas the features and functions of topic constructions in authentic language interaction are still underspecified.With a cognitive-pragmatic approach, this dissertation attempts to make a comprehensive description of topic constructions in spoken discourse of Mandarin Chinese. In this study, I use conversational data from a self-built corpus composed of TV interviews to investigate the information status and discourse functions of topic constructions in naturally occurring spoken discourses, to conclude the pragmatic motivations and strategies involved in the use of such constructions, and on the basis of that to provide a unified cognitive account of topic constructions.The work done in this study consists of the following parts.First of all, "topic construction" in this study is defined as the non-canonical construction which displays a marked topic. Topic constructions are classified into 3 types, namely, Left-dislocation, Topicalization and Chinese-style topic construction. Their internal structural and semantic features are expounded on.Second, topic constructions’ contribution to information flow in spoken discourse is examined. With both textual and situational context taken into account, the cognitive statuses of topics are carefully recorded and classified with a framework adapted from a combination of Givenness Hierarchy (Gundel et al.,1993) and Familiarity Scale (Prince,1981). Statistics indicate that most topics rank high in cognitive status hierarchy with different sources of activation. Based on the correlation between cognitive statuses and linguistic forms of topics, the thesis proposes a modification of Givenness Hierarchy in terms of a continuum.As to topic continutiy, a high percentage of topics persist in the ensuing utterance, mainly in the form of pronouns and noun phrases. Three types of topic constructions display different features in cognitive statuses and topic persistence. Among them, Topicalizations tend to be closely related to previous discourse, while Left-dislocations show the highest frequency of introducing new information to the discourse.Third, to investigate the discourse functions of topic constructions, a clear distinction is drawn between two domains:discourse structure and discourse content. In the domain of discourse structure management, topic constructions can function in two moves, opening moves and sustaining moves. Topic constructions in opening moves play a role in segmentation of discourse, marking the start of a new unit of talks, while in sustaining moves, they continue the current discourse topic. Again, three types of topic constructions differ in distribution pattern. But the distribution patterns show consistency with their information statuses observed in the previous chapter. For example, Left-dislocations, relatively frequent in introducing new information, are also found to locate in opening moves more often than the other two.As to discourse content, topic constructions can highlight the logical relations between topics and other discourse entities, such as contrast, similarity, inclusion and so on.Fourth, this thesis argues that the motivation of topic constructions is perceptual prominence. The prominence of topic manifests itself in the heaviness of this unit, heaviness in both stress and theme. It abides by the principle of economy in cognitive processing to place the heavy part in a separate unit, hence the marked topic.The use of topic constructions also embodies the employment of pragmatic strategies in utterance, including strategies of interaction and politeness. In the proceeding of utterances, topics are observed to serve as discourse scaffolds, helping speakers convey cooperative intentions and buy time for the construction of ensuing utterance. Topic constructions are also observed to enable speakers to register control over the interaction in a flexible manner. On some occasions, speakers use topic constructions as a means of tactfully avoiding sensitive topics, expressing disagreement etc. with an indication of politeness. These pragmatic strategies can be woven into the use of topic constructions thanks to their distinct feature--the relatively loose relation between topic and comment. Finally, the thesis proposes a unified cognitive account of topic constructions. In topic constructions, topic is coded as the conceptual reference point for the target--comment. Based on this unified account, the differences among the three types of topic constructions can be explained with trajector-landmark theory. In Left-dislocations, topic, as the reference point, establishes connection with the trajector or landmark or other entities in the target comment. In Topicalizations, topic assumes dual roles and becomes the reference point and the trajectory/landmark in the target at the same time. The construal of Chinese-style topic constructions involves inference of the non-ostensive relations between topic and comment. Based on generalizations of the information status and discourse functions of topic constructions, the thesis finally proposes a schematic model indicative of topic constructions’contribution in the updating of current discourse spaces.更多还原