An Analysis Of Interpersonal Meanings Of Modality From The Perspective Of Systemic-functional Linguistics

The study of interpersonal meanings from the perspective of modal system has long been the focus of linguists.However,few people study the interpersonal analysis of modal systems from the perspective of systemic functional language.Therefore,from the three branches of modal system(modal auxiliary verb,modal adjunct and modal metaphor),this study contrasts and analyzes the interpersonal analysis of modal system from the perspective of systemic functional language.This paper is composed of five chapters.Chapter one describes the introduction to the paper,including the background,the significance,the methodology and the structure of the paper.Chapter two focuses on the literature review of the study.Firstly,studies of economic speech are explained in detail including its definition,classification,features and previous studies.The following is the studies of modality system.In this part,the definition,types,linguistic realization as well as previous studies of modality are introduced in detail.To describe clearly,some figures proposed by Halliday are presented.Chapter three is the theoretical framework.The thesis is conducted under the framework of Systemic-Functional Linguistics.An introduction is given to understand this theory.Additionally,more information about interpersonal meanings is introduced.Chapter four examines how the interpersonal meanings are realized in economic speech.The analysis is made from mainly three aspects,including finite modal operators,modal adjuncts and metaphors of modality.Besides,the sub-categories of these three aspects are explained to analyze the details.Chapter five reaches the conclusion of the study by summarizing the major findings,implications,limitations of this study and some suggestions for further study.The main research questions are as follows:1.How the interpersonal meanings are realized by the use of modal auxiliary verbs in interpersonal context from the perspective of systemic functional language?2.How the interpersonal meanings are realized by the use of modal adjuncts in interpersonal context from the perspective of systemic functional language?3.How the interpersonal meanings are realized by the use of metaphors of modality in interpersonal context from the perspective of systemic functional language?In view of the above problems,the autihor takes the English version of Premier Li's opening speech in 2017 Summer Davos Forum as an example to analyze the interpersonal meanings between the three groups.Through the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the collected data,this study draws the following conclusions:Firstly,from the finite modal operators' perspective,three conclusions can be drawn.In terms of the value,the proportion of median value modal operators has the highest frequency and interpersonal meanings are mainly achieved by them because the median value finite modal verbs can avoid determinism and prevent the information from criticized.As to the type of modality,modal of obligation is widely used.That's because in this speech,speaker has to state clearly all the measures to be adopted in the future in a non-negotiable way to establish authority and convince the audience by showing the firm attitude.When referring to the polarity,it is obvious that the positive occurs most frequently.It is because that this economic speech given by Premier Li aims at presenting as many as progress and the bright future,so positive modal operators are employed.Secondly,in terms of modal adjuncts,they consist of mood adjuncts and comment adjuncts.And mood adjuncts can be divided into adjuncts of temporality,adjuncts of modality and adjuncts of intensity.Within mood adjuncts,adjuncts of modality are the predominant type,with adjuncts of intensity being the second and adjuncts of temporality the last.Adjuncts of modality are adopted to make a clear and direct statement which helps listeners understand speakers' true intention.Therefore,it explains the reason why adjuncts of modality are widely adopted.In the adjuncts of modality,the type of polarity is used to make statements explicit and accurate,helping the audience to have a clear understanding of the subject being talked about.As to comment adjuncts,the number of them in the speech is very limited,which indicates that speakers are more inclined to express opinions based on reality or facts,and therefore they seldom use comment adjuncts from their personal view with the intention of not being judged by people holding different ideas.The sub-type,the speech functional type,is used more in the speech.The reason can be explained as that the economic speech is delivered to achieve some basic speech functions or convey interpersonal meanings rather than just state some propositions.Thirdly,in this thesis,modality metaphors including those of explicit subjectivity and explicit objectivity are analyzed.However,on the whole,the amount is very limited compared with the other two types of linguistic realization.Explicit subjectivity is adopted when the speaker aims at making his ideas clearly understood by the listeners and arouse their trust by such statements.So a confident tone is used to express the opinions directly in order to avoid any ambiguity.However,in such an economic forum,with various subjects with different nationalities,beliefs,religions and ethnics attending,it is not easy to put forward some ideas which can be accepted by all the participants.Under this situation,explicit objectivity is a better choice to be employed.Hence criticism and some discrimination can be avoided.The paper is of theoretical and practical significance.First of all,the analysis of economic speech is not enough,so this paper can supplement the specific researches on economic speech.Secondly,previous studies of economic discourse are mostly carried out from the perspective of rhetoric and hedges,but the analysis of economic discourse from the perspective of SFL is limited.Therefore,this study expands the perspective of economic discourse analysis.Thirdly,few researches have analyzed Premier Li's English version of his opening speech in 2017 Summer Davos Forum.Therefore,this study broadens the content and choice of economic speech,and to some extent,proves the flexibility and applicability of SFL in economic speech analysis.The practical significance of this paper is mainly reflected in the following aspects.First of all,from the perspective of the text itself,the analysis of economic discourse improves people's understanding of economic discourse.In addition,from the perspective of speech,this study can guide economic speakers to use language more effectively and know which language form can achieve the desirable results.In addition,as an important way for people to understand the economic dynamics in their daily life,economic discourse analysis can help people better understand the problems and current situations of economic development and grasp the trend of economic development.