英文摘要 |
The previous grammatical studies on Mandarin adjectives focus on their syntactic and semantic functions, while little light has been shed on their pragmatic functions. This paper systematically examines the pragmatic functions of the adjectives in Mandarin Chinese, indicating that the adjectives are used to fulfill five fundamental functions, namely subcategorization, identification, evaluation, specification and depiction. To be specific, subcategorizing adjectives classify the objects into different categories; identifying adjectives single out specific referent(s) as a topic in the discourse; evaluative adjectives spell out the speaker’s opinion or attitude towards the objects; specifying adjectives provide a concrete and objective illustration of the property of the objects; and depicting adjectives provide a vivid and picturesque description of the state of objects, creating a lively image on the hearers’ mind. An intimate yet complicated correspondence can be identified between these pragmatic functions and the syntactic functions and the semantic categories of adjectives. |