A Tenor Analysis Of The Markedness Of Personal Pronouns In TV Talk Shows

The study of this thesis aims to analyze the markedness of the personal pronouns in interviews. By markedness, the author means both the unmarked use and the marked use of the personal pronouns in the interviews. Interviews are also called "talk shows" in western countries. In the research, the author collects30interviews in both English and Chinese, then according to the different styles, divides them into groups of formal high-end interviews and popular talk shows, calculates the distributions of each type of personal pronouns in the two groups of interviews, and finally gives a detailed interpersonal analysis of the pronouns in the frames of Martin’s Tenor Theory.In the first stage of the research, the author finds there exists great difference between the group of formal interviews and the group of informal talk shows on the markedness of personal pronouns. And they do have some similarities in some aspects, for example, in both types of shows, the marked use of "you" is frequently used, and the number of the third personal pronouns is very limited, most of which is of unmarked usage.Compared with the similarities, there are also some distinctive differences. In the formal group, interviewees tend to use the "exclusive we" to express something on behalf of all the members, while for the entertaining TV talk shows, the guests prefer to use the singular "I" to show their personality. Another difference is that speakers in the popular talk shows use a relatively large percentage of unmarked "you" to add the vividness of the interaction of the programs, while there’s no such kind of findings in the formal shows.The author also finds in the use of personal pronouns, English speakers and Chinese speakers do not seem to have obvious difference, even the markedly used ones are quite similar.In the interpersonal analysis of the personal pronouns which is the second stage of the research, the author has findings as follows:on the status level, the attempt of moving to equal status is often related to the marked use of "you", while moving to unequal status can be realized with the help of the unmarked "you". On the contact level, when conveying the feeling of being involved with each other,"exclusive we" and the marked "you", which is generic reference, is usually the first choice of speakers; While the unmarked "you" and unmarked "I" often put the listener into an opposite position, thus moving the relation between the speakers to a distant direction. On the aspect of affect, while there is no definite relation with the form of personal pronouns and the positive interpersonal meaning it conveys, the unmarked use of "he" or "they" in most cases can show some negative feeling like disparaging and dissatisfaction.