A Study Of Extraposition In English From The Perspective Of The Prominence View

Previous researches have asserted that extraposition only includes rightward extraposition,so studies on extraposition mainly focus on rightward extraposition.Some studies even consider rightward extraposition construction as fixed pattern,take them for granted and think there is no need to explain them.This thesis puts forward that it's necessary to reflect on the previous definitions and classifications of extraposition in English and explain them.So this thesis redefines and reclassifies extraposition in English and provides systematic accounts of it from the perspective of the prominence view.In English,there are seven basic or unmarked sentence 'patterns,among which the widespread two are“subject+predicate(+object)(+object complement)" and“subject+predicate+subject complement”.This thesis,according to the ordinal relation of sentence elements,redefines that extraposition in English is a syntactic phenomenon in which one syntactic component is moved out from its unmarked or normal position either to a marked position on the right or to a marked position on the left.This kind of extraposition is different from left dislocation and right dislocation.According to the orientational relationship between the extraposed position,the marked position and the unmarked position,the normal position,extraposition in English can be reclassified into leftward extraposition and rightward extraposition.Leftward extraposition refers to extraposition of a syntactic component from its unmarked position to the initial position or before its primary position in a sentence,without leaving a pro-form at the primary position.Rightward extraposition refers to extraposition of a syntactic component from its unmarked position to the end position or behind its primary position in a sentence.This thesis still agrees with the previous opinion that it-extraposition is one kind of extraposition but also believes that the extraposition of postpositive attribute is also a kind of extraposition.Based on this definition and basic sentence elements in a sentence,leftward extraposition in English includes leftward extraposition of subject complement,leftward extraposition of object,leftward extraposition of object complement.Rightward extraposition in English includes rightward extraposition of subject,rightward extraposition of object,rightward extraposition of object complement.Leftward extraposition and rightward extraposition of sentences in English result in marked sentence patterns.On the basis of the redefinition and reclassification of extraposition,this thesis has tried to explain leftward and rightward extraposition in English from the perspective of the prominence view.This thesis proves that the initial and end position of a sentence are two important positions in a sentence.The initial position is occupied by a theme usually and is the departure of an information unit.The importance of end position is decided by end-focus and end-weight.Based on this,this thesis discusses the cognitive motivation of this movement.The result shows that extraposition in English is the product of human cognition,and its cognitive motivation is cognitive prominence.The way people construe the world brings the change in the prominence degree of a related thing or information which results in the selection and arrangement of information.This reflects as the change of word order.Therefore,the changed word order forms extraposition in English.Specifically,the unmarked word order from old information to new information results from objective prominence,in which new information is not given additional prominence.Extraposition means breaking convention and moving new information leftward or rightward from its unmarked position to marked position,so that marked word order is formed and new information is additionally highlighted.As a result,leftward extraposition of subject complement,object and object complement and rightward extraposition of subject,object,and object complement have taken place in English.This thesis holds that the cognitive motivation of extraposition is subjective prominence,the highlighted object is the leftward extraposed component or the rightward extraposed component,and that the highlighted content is the new information conveyed by the extraposed component.On these grounds,the thesis has given a unified account of leftward extraposition and rightward extraposition in English.The study made in this thesis is of some reference value to teachers,students,and language users in learning,teaching and using extraposition in English.