A Study Of Demonstratives System In Shangli Dialect

The demonstratives system of Shangli dialect differs from the dichotomous system of Mandarin,is a trichotomous system in which the speaker is the point of view and is positioned by virtue of horizontal distance.The article summarises the demonstratives system from the perspectives of semantic features,syntactic functions,pragmatic functions and grammaticalisation problems and asymmetries.At the semantic level,the demonstratives system of Shangli dialect consists of three basic demonstratives and several compound demonstratives,with a semantic hierarchy of “nearer-nearer – farer”.The three subtypes remain internally consistent when referring to individuals,directions,time and other objects.The article finds that the nearer demonstrative “Yi(伊)” has its own specificity,as it can be used alone,even without the cooccurrence of the nearer demonstrative “Ge(个)”,due to its unique distance meaning,and can also be used in a contrastive relationship with the distant indicative.On the grammatical level,the demonstratives in Shangli dialect are both indicative pronouns,which can act as subject and object;and indicative qualifiers,which can be used to modify quantifiers,etc.,In some cases,they are also indicative adverbs,such as manner,trait and degree indicatives.Compared with Mandarin Chinese demonstratives,Shangli dialect demonstratives are less free in their syntactic distribution and have many limitations.At the pragmatic level,different demonstratives play different roles in specific discourse usage,including situational use,discourse deictic use,tracking use,recognitional use,subordination,scene description,etc.When describing a scene,the speaker uses the demonstrative“Ge(个)”to indicate it,adding a sense of immersion to the listener.In different narrative styles,there is a dichotomy between“Yi Ya(伊呀)”and“Ge A(个啊)”,which can be used in two kinds of narrative scenarios,namely,the cotemporal and the reminiscent.The fourth chapter analyses the grammaticalisation of the demonstratives system,one of which is the grammaticalisation of accusative usage,i.e.the extension and transfer of the accusative domain,where the referential distance is transformed from horizontal to temporal and psychological distance.the other is the grammaticalisation of the non-accusative use,which is the grammatical and discourse functions derived from the indicative in the discourse,including the two grammaticalisation routes of grammaticalisation of “near accusative ‘Ge(个)’ > topic marker” and “near accusative ‘Ge(个)’ > conjunctive > conjunctive discourse marker” and the generic accusative function of the “Ge(个)” system.The fifth chapter explores the phenomenon of asymmetry in the demonstratives system,firstly examining the tendency of asymmetry in the demonstratives system in terms of frequency of use,and analysing the reasons for asymmetry at the semantic and pragmatic levels.From the semantic point of view,the range of referential distance and the degree of accessibility can cause asymmetry in the choice of demonstratives;from the pragmatic point of view,the accentuation function can exacerbate the asymmetry in the speaker’s choice of demonstratives.The combination of accessibility and accentuation makes the asymmetry in the demonstratives system more pronounced.