英语被动语态的原型范畴研究的中期报告.docx

英语被动语态的原型范畴研究的中期报告

Introduction

Thepurposeofthismid-termreportistoprovideanoverviewoftheresearchprogressontheprototypecategoryofEnglishpassiveconstructions.Passivevoiceisawidely-usedconstructioninEnglishgrammar,anditisknownforitsdistinctivesyntacticandsemanticfeatures.Agreatdealofresearchhasbeenconductedonthetopicinvariousdomains,includinglanguageacquisition,syntax,semantics,pragmatics,anddiscourseanalysis.However,theconceptofprototypecategoryhasnotbeenappliedtothestudyofpassivevoiceinEnglish.Thisprojectaimstofillthisgapbyadoptingaprototypeapproachtotheanalysisofpassiveconstructions.

Literaturereview

TheliteratureonEnglishpassivevoiceisextensive,coveringawiderangeoflinguisticdomains.Fromasyntacticpointofview,passiveischaracterizedbyatransitiveverbinwhichthesubjectundergoestheactionratherthanperformsit(HuddlestonPullum,2002).Fromasemanticperspective,passivevoiceoftenconveystheideaoffocus,contrast,impersonality,oremphasis(HallidayMatthiessen,2014).Fromapragmaticangle,passivevoicemaybeusedforpoliteness,tact,avoidanceofblame,orscientificobjectivity(Leech,1983).Finally,fromadiscourseanalysisviewpoint,passivevoicemaysignalthematicstructure,topiccontinuity,orinformationflow(Danes,1974).

However,fewstudieshaveapproachedtheissueofprototypecategoryinEnglishpassiveconstructions.Prototypetheory,developedbyEleanorRoschinthe1970sand1980s,proposesthatthestructureofcategoriesisbasedongradedlevelsofprototypicality,ratherthanonarbitraryrulesordefinitions(Rosch,1975).AccordingtoRosch,prototypesarecentral,typical,orrepresentativeinstancesofacategory,whichpossessthemostattributesorfeaturesofthecategoryandarecognitivelysalienttotheparticipantsofthecategory.Examplesofprototypecategoriesincludebirds,fruits