"the Implication" The Rhetoric Phenomenon Research

Implication is a common rhetoric in ancient and modern Chinese that has drawn wide attentions. It is commonly seen in all types of writing in Chinese and has rich corpus. The study on the rhetoric of implication started in as early as the pre-Qin period and has involved many different fields and accumulated a solid theoretical basis. However, from the research done home and broad, there has not been any work of systematic study with the rhetoric of implication as its focus. Therefore, though an ancient topic, this rhetoric is very much worth studying.On the basis of existing research findings and from the perspective of Rhetoric, with implication in its narrow sense (i.e. the part that not only does the speaker expresses this implication but also the receiver can properly understand it after making some efforts in figuring it out) as the research subject, this dissertation attempts to conduct a relatively systematic study on the rhetoric of implication taking into consideration both its expression and understanding. The methodology adopted include "Inductive method","the interpretation method","combination and fusion of multiple disciplines","sample surveys".There are six chapters in this dissertation. Chapter One is the introduction. It defines the rhetoric of implication and reviewed both the historical research and current research home and broad on this rhetoric. It also states the subject, purposes, methodology and innovations of this study. Clearly pointed out this study two purposes:one, to explore the reasons for implication to have existed; two, to explore the rules for its expression and understanding. Through the study of this rhetorical phenomenon, this author hopes to have an overall grasp of the implication rhetoric. There are three innovations in this dissertation:firstly, a thorough inquiry was made into the justification for the existence of this rhetoric; secondly, a relatively systematic analysis is conducted on the formation of the rhetoric; thirdly, a summary of the forms of the rhetoric is made and the rules for understanding it are explored.Chapter Two is "Exploring the Justifications for the Implication Rhetoric". The inevitability and necessity of this rhetoric is explored from philosophical, linguistic, cultural, and aesthetic dimensions. First of all,"the paradox between word and meaning" in philosophy, points out that the relation between word and meaning is one that expresses without an expression, this relationship of Word and meaning is by means of the word passes the meaning, which made the implication rhetoric possible. In addition, its inevitability is discussed. Secondly, in aesthetics, the pursuit of music out of the rhyme as well as Chinese culture’s favor of euphemism and "based on the image to express ideas" way of thinking had made necessary and inevitable implications with the help of a intermediary, the word, to pass the meaning, in a subtle and refined manner. And the separation of "signifier" and "signified" in linguistics becomes a securing tool for the emergence of the implication rhetoric.Chapter Three,"The Generation Mechanism of The Implication Rhetoric" discusses the generation mechanism of the implication rhetoric in fours aspects: context, psychology, logic and the subject and receptor of the rhetoric activity.We think in these four factors, contextual factors is the most basic and critical factor. The initiatives of the subject and receptor as well as relevant psychological factors or logical factors are the necessity factors for the generation of the implication rhetoric. We think the generation of the implication rhetoric is the outcome of the rhetorical subject trying to adapt to specific "theme" and situation, and thus mobilizing the relevant psychological or logical factors to select the appropriate language to express him-or herself.Chapter Four,"Analyzing the Types of Implications and Relevant Factors", according to the different ways Surface expression and Inner expression are formally connected in language, implications are summarized as three types:the type of coincidence Conceiving "Coincidence inclusion","Intersection relation ", and " Separated traction.The relevant factors to each type are discussed—specifically, the generation mechanisms of each type is discussed.Chapter Five,"Analyzing the Understanding of implication", is based on the corpus summarized in Chapter Four. It points out that the process of understanding the implication is the process of inference. At the same time, according to the different ways of inferring, it can be summarized into two categories:"dominant inferring" and "implicit inferring". On this basis, the factors influencing the realization of inferring are studied in detail. Thus, the analysis further points out:the factors influencing the realization of inferring are the same factors affecting the receiver and speaker’s context sharing. The receiver sharing the same context with the speaker is key to achieve understanding. Stressed out, the process of understanding the implication is the process of the receiver trying to achieve context sharing with the speaker through context supplementation. We think, this chapter discusses the factors that affect context supplementation. They are:the collective unconscious, the personal unconscious, and personal initiative. The richer the accumulation of Collective unconscious and personal unconscious, the greater role individual initiative plays, and the bigger possibility for context supplementation to be realized. Therefore, the understanding of the phenomenon of the implication rhetoric, is the process where the receiver utilizes the accumulation of the collective unconscious and personal unconscious as well as the "personal initiative" to realize context supplementation, thus on the basis of which to achieve understanding of the implication.Chapter Five proposes the concept of "context supplementation", suggests that the understanding process for implication is actually the result of context supplementation and investigated in detail the factors that influence context supplementation. In short, the dissertation not only analyzes the reasons for understanding implications (have solved the "what" question), but also find the way that how this understanding is achieved (have answerd the "how" question). Compared to the focus of aesthetics and relevance theory in explaining (why the understanding is realized), this dissertation is a further development and deepening of research in speech understanding.