Systemic Functional Study Of Verbalization In English

Under the framework of systemic functional grammar(hereforth SFG),this thesis aims at exploring the metaphorical essence and function of verbalization as a linguistic phenomenon in terms of grammatical metaphor(hereforth GM).So this thesis attempts to explain the metaphorical mechanism and metafunction of verbalization by qualitative analysis.According to previous research,nominalization was regarded as the solely and most productive resource in terms of creating GM(hereforth GM)by systemic functional linguists,and it is considered playing the pivotal role in generating meaning and constructing grammar.In recent years,nominalization has been researched deeply and widely by the functional schools at home and abroad.As a linguistic phenomenon opposite to nominalization,the study of verbalization is far less mature than that of nominalization.The main reason is that the high frequency of the use of nominalization overshadows the existence of verbalization.In fact,verbalization appears in our daily English regularly and commonly,especially when it comes to the shift from nouns to verbs.It is noteworthy that the generation of verbalization always be followed by nominalization,although the relationship between them is opposite,they are in a codependent relationship in practical language use.On the basis of previous studies,this paper attempts to make a systemic functional study on verbalization.The purpose of this study is to probe the shift mechanism of verbalization in English.Firstly,the author tries to analyze the transitivity system in the process of verbalizing,including the transference of processes between congruent and metaphorical forms,the transference of participants between congruent and metaphorical forms,and the features of transference in the process of verbalizing.Secondly,the author discusses the mechanism of verbalization in English from three dimensions of language,including semantic function,grammatical function and grammatical unit.Finally,this thesis explores the three metafunctions of verbalization in English,namely,ideational metafunction,interpersonal metafunction,and textual metafunction.The phenomenon of verbalization is motivated by the following metafunctions.From the perspective of ideational metafunction,it can be embodied as the economical use of language by condensing semantic features and gap-filling of speech vacancy by constructing new semantic elements and grammatical features;from the perspective of interpersonal metafunction,verbalization can make the expression more objective by reducing the use of personal pronouns and also reflect the speaker's evaluation of the event by applying the effect of metaphor;from the perspective of textual metafunction,verbalization can reorganize Theme-Rheme structure to realize cohesion and the shift of information focus between a clause or clause complex.Through this study,the shift mechanism and metafunction of verbalization has been revealed,which can bring some enlightenments for English learners to adapt to the development of English and open a new perspective for vocabulary teaching.