| Koutouchan, the Chinese close equivalent of pet phrases, is a commonplacelinguistic phenomenon, but it draws least attention by linguists. It is in part because ofpeople’s cognition, which makes them label koutouchan as something insignificant orsuperficial. The viewpoint is also verified by definitions given in authoritativedictionaries like Cihai and Ciyuan. On the other hand, koutouchan is an inclusivecategory home to various linguistic representations and seemingly lacks definite andsystemic linguistic targets, which unavoidably leads to a standstill in research. Taking thegrammaticalization (in broad sense herein) perspective, the dissertation characterizes andclassifies koutouchan, followed by analyses of the mechanisms and motivations of itscause as well as its functions and effects. The research is therefore conducive topromoting people’s awareness of koutouchan and deepening their understanding in thislinguistic phenomenon.Firstly, the dissertation classifies koutouchan. High frequency and a ready tonguecharacterize koutouchan phenomenon, with frequency a magic driving force that pusheslanguage evolution. High frequent output of discourse can either fortify or bleach itssemantic meaning, giving rise to different sub-categories of koutouchan. Thus, thedissertation divides koutouchan into three main groups in terms of grammaticalization (inbroad sense herein) degrees, namely, grammaticalized koutouchan, pragmaticalizedkoutouchan and idiom-like koutouchan. It is grammaticalized koutouchan, like zhege,nage, ranhou and wanle, that goes furthest in grammaticalization process, with theirmeaning highly bleached and procedural. Second to grammaticalized koutouchan ispragmaticalized ones with their meaning diverting to being more pragmatic andsubjective as suibian, chabuduo and a large part of curses are the typical examples.Idiom-like koutouchan by and large is consistent with its original forms in terms ofmeaning and function with rhythmic proverbs and slogans as its examples. It is necessary to point out that grammaticalization of koutouchan is a continuum with no clear-cutboundaries. The classification is the point of departure in koutouchan study; it helpspeople realize the existence of its various forms and better know the nature.Secondly, the dissertation elaborates on the mechanism and motivation of the causeof koutouchan, which arises from linguistic choice and adaptation. Koutouchan, drivenby subjective and objective factors, is subjected to the development and usage rules oflanguage. The influencing factors include speaker’s cognition, social and cultural contextand the change pattern of language. The analyses of its mechanism and motivation canhelp us fully understand that koutouchan is by no means unconscious words but anadaptive speech act. Most of grammaticalized koutouchan stem from discourse markers.They serve the purpose to fulfill speaker’s expectation of coherence and cohesion indiscourses, and meet the needs of opening or altering topic, controlling or giving up floorin communication. Most of the pragmaticalized koutouchan are influenced by socialfactors such as region, gender, age, class, occupation, education and science and culturedevelopment. The modern media technology also plays a part in spreading catchingwords, which finally turn into koutouchan. With regard to linguistic factors, languagecontact can provide some prevalent new words, which in turn develop into koutouchan.And the linguistic memetic mechanism allows some discourses to replicate among peopleand in personal language system before they are spoken in koutouchan pattern.Thirdly, it is about koutouchan’s functions and effects. As a linguistic phenomenon,koutouchan has its forms as well as its functions. Language possesses threemetafunctions as Halliday (1994) suggests, namely ideational function, interpersonalfunction and textual function. Koutouchan, a verbal carrier, also carries out these threemetafunctions to some degree. Generally speaking, grammaticalized koutouchan fulfillsthe textual function, including organizing discourse, controlling floor, filling hesitation,or promoting coherence and cohesion as speakers expect. Pragmaticalized koutouchanand idiom-like koutouchan serve the purpose of ideational and interpersonal functions to a great extent with their semantic meanings not (fully) bleached. They, as(inter)subjective expressions, reflect apparent salience and convey speaker’s informativeand emotive intentions with sometimes being tinged with rhetoric features. The analysisof koutouchan’s function is the main objective of koutouchan study, which is conduciveto our understanding of its nature and role in communication. Meanwhile, it also poses achallenge to the established definition given in dictionaries.Moreover, overused koutouchan can bring out negative effects to verbalcommunication, making the discourse sluggish, isolated and boring. The study of how tominimize or eradicate such cliché expressions is to make discourse more concise, morelively and more expressive. It therefore has some guiding significance for how topromote public speaking skills.To sum up, koutouchan is by no means unconscious or superficial words. The studyinvolves many branches of linguistics such as syntax, semantics, pragmatics, dialectology,historical linguistics, socio-linguistics, text linguistics, cognitive linguistics and appliedlinguistics. It also interacts with communication studies as well. As a new and interestinginterdisciplinary subject, we expect more attention will be shifted to this area so as tocorrect definitions given by dictionaries and deepen people’s understanding in thisspecial linguistic phenomenon. |
