A Tentative Study On The Markedness Value Of Metalinguistic Negation

This article attempts to account for the markedness value of metalinguistic negation (MN) from an integrative approach: a combination of static and dynamic perspectives.First of all, a new analytical mechanism is set up for markedness phenomena from an integrative approach. This approach differs from others in that it focuses on one linguistic type rather than one linguistic unit. The static perspective and dynamic perspective complement each other with the former operating on a general and static level and the latter on a specific and dynamic level. We try to justify this approach from three aspects: the prerequisite condition of the static-dynamic dual nature of language use; the preceding theories and practices; the characteristics and criteria of markedness. The criteria of markedness are important to specify the markedness value of a linguistic type. The general criterion is a social and cognitive one: the more an expression conforms to social conventions, the less cognitive efforts it costs and the less marked it is. However, within different perspectives, static or dynamic, the specific criteria vary.Then a particular linguistic type ? MN is chosen as an exemplar to illustrate how this integrative approach works. From a static perspective the markedness value of MN is analyzed at both formal and functional levels. The formal variants of MNs are classified on the basis of the contents negated and the structural completeness. For MNs variants distinguished in contents types, the more external knowledge is required, the more marked MN is. For MNs variants differentiated in structural completeness, the stereotypical and explicit MNs are unmarked while the marginal and implicit MNs.The functional dimension is based on speech act theory. Taking the stereotypical speech act performed by MN as assertives, we have accounted for its markedness value, and extended to other marginal speech acts. These speech acts form a continuum, with assertives and expressives standing at the unmarked end, directives and commissives in between, and declarations at the marked end.From a dynamic perspective, our theoretical mechanism is the C-R-A Model which incorporates the prevailing cooperation, relevance and adaptation theories of language use. Although these three aspects form an organic whole, we have split them asunder first to give a clear account of correspondence between the abidance and violation of cooperation, relevance, adaptation and the MN's property of being unmarked and marked. Then we come back to integrate them in an organic C-R-A model and identify the markedness value of MN.