On The Formulaic Structures Of Blessing Kuant Of The Dong People

Kuant Cix is a distinctive art form of Dong minority in folk literary. Derived from reciting words of religious and sacrificial activities of primitive society, Kuant Cix so far has been reserved in its ancient verse form. Blessing Kuant is one kind of Kuant Cix, which was used to bless and praise each other in important festivals or activities in a chanting way by Dong people. Transmitted from generation to generation in oral way, Kuant Cix now is mainly reserved in south dialect regions, while it is going to disappear in north dialect regions. Therefore, relevant work about protecting and doing research on Kuant Cix is very urgent.Present studies mainly focus on social factors and cultural connotations of Kuant Cix, but studies on language structures and patterns are less. As a research method of oral tradition, the oral-formulaic theory provides a theoretical foundation to structural patterns and inheritance mechanism of oral discourse research.With data collected from our fieldwork, this thesis attempts to do research on three pieces of Blessing Kuant:Blessing of the New house, Blessing of the Girls and Blessing of the Reed-Pipe. According to the oral formula theory, systematical analyses have been done on phonetic and metrical features, formulas of words and expressions, syntactic formulas of Blessing Kuant, then on the transmission mechanism and social functions. Analyses here aim to figure out formulaic structures of Kuant Cix under specific phonetic and rhythmical conditions, and explain how is Blessing Kuant transmitted by using formulaic structures.Research found that Blessing Kuant in metrical level had its rhymes mainly by repeating the whole syllable. In words and expressions level, it used abundant formulaic expressions about figures, space and orientation, theme markers. In syntactic level, it used benedictory formulas, a mass of parallel structures and repetitions. Those formulaic structures not only help chanters to remember oral discourses and create on site, but also help audiences to predict, remind and receive oral messages. The efficient transmission of Blessing Kuant has promoted interpersonal relationship, advocated traditional virtues, transmitted nationality culture and enriched people’s life.