A Probe Into The Latest Catchphrases As Appeared In The Novel He Dian

The Chinese language is a highly developed language, witnessing a long history while used over a widespread territory. As it receives a heavy incremental deposit from history, the Chinese language has assimilated into it dialects, idioms, slang and vulgar words of all sorts, greatly enriching its words and expressions. The vivid and vigorous populace words and expressions deserve research and exploration as they have been one of the driving forces that keep the Chinese language richer and richer on a constantly developing basis.He Dian, by Zhang Zhuangnan in the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911 ), is one such novel that contains the Shanghai dialect and slangs from cover to cover. Mr. Luxun noted in his Preface to the novel that while the novel describes the human world through depicting the world of the ghosts, it makes new catchphrases the way classic quotes work. His comments make a good summarization of the novel. On the one hand, reflecting the human world by depicting the world of the ghosts reveals the subject matter of the book as it actually mirrors the kaleidoscopic human life in a way that ghost stories are told in it. On the other, making new catchphrases the way classic quotes work refers to its writing skills as it features an abundant use of idiomatic quotes.However, what the novelist used in his novel is not the usual classic idiomatic quotes, but the so-called new idiomatic allusions instead. The so-called new idiomatic allusions here refer to the slang and vulgar expressions as being a catchphrase among the common people. As noted by Mr.Liu Dabai in his Reading He Dian, the novel is a dictionary of dialects, slangs and vulgar languages compiled in a novel style. This article, consequently, refer to all the various colloquial and slang expressions and phrases as the phrase latest catchphrase. It is greatly significant to make a research on such a vivid language-imbued work.This article probes into the latest catchphrases in several ways. First, the author makes a comprehensive study on the novel that results in a good collection of all the language materials. Second, the author makes an analysis and classification of the language material. Third, the author draws a conclusion based on the study of all the accumulated language material from various perspectives.This article explores the latest catchphrases as appeared in the novel in their sorts, their application and their functions in chapters as follows:Chapter one deals with the sorts of the catchphrases that include proverbs, idioms,colloquial, slang and vulgar languages. The author probes into all these separately by citing different examples.Chapter Two deals with the methods of the application of the catchphrases include full or part quotation,mimicking,返源and self-conflicting. The author probes into all these allusions separately by citing different examples.Chapter Three deals with the function of the catchphrases. As illustrated in the novel, the employment of latest catchphrases makes the language more meaningful, more humorous in an exaggerating way and more beautiful in a rhythmic manner. The author probes into all these styles separately by citing different examples.He Dian gives a full and rich display to dialects and vulgar languages that deserve a thorough research. Limited in his(her?) own capability, the author just attempts at a shallow endeavor in this article.