Volume 6, Issue 3

ABSTRACT When a clause like glass cracks more quickly is rankshifted and nominalized as glass crack growth rate , ideational grammatical metaphor (IGM) occurs. However, embedded clauses (e.g. the fact that it had been shown to be a forgery ruined his argument ) are also rankshifted and nominalized, but they cannot be regarded as IGMs. This issue of embedding has tended to be relatively under studies within the theory of systemic functional linguistics (SFL). In order to tackle this issue, we propose a principle (i.e. the full realization principle, FRP) which operates in parallel with the principle of rankshift for the identification of IGMs. Under the FRP principle, a nominalization may be full, intermediate or raw in realization, but only the full nominalization which is compressed both in meaning and form can be regarded as IGM. As a necessary supplement to the rankshift principle, FRP helps distinguish nominalizations which are IGMs from those which are not, and the issue of embedding will not be a problem any longer. This in turn offers a new perspective to the categorization of nominalization in general.

ABSTRACT Multiword units can contribute significantly to the fluency of linguistic production. Lexical bundles, as a type of multiword units, are sequences of three or more words used with high frequency in natural discourse. Primary studies regarding the introduction of structural and functional classifications of lexical bundles have been followed by other researchers to compare them across disciplines based on the primary classifications. However, no comprehensive study has been conducted to explore and investigate the structural as well as the functional characteristics of the lexical bundles in research articles in the field of applied linguistics. This study aimed at exploring lexical bundles used in a substantial number of academic papers published in this specific field through different journals since 2008 to identify all the lexical bundles and to capture all the possible structural and functional characteristics they express. To achieve this, a corpus of papers published in the field of applied linguistics was complied and investigated. A considerable number of lexical bundles identified were similar to those previously found in the literature while a reasonable number of them expressed new structural and functional characteristics. The study concludes with theoretical as well as some pedagogical implications of the findings.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the rang  clauses in modern mandarin Chinese from the Cardiff Grammar approach with the aim to answer a central question concerning the clauses, i.e., what are the syntactic functions of  rang  in the clauses? After reviewing previous studies and clarifying the basic notions established in the Cardiff Grammar, the study analyzes and discusses the syntax of the generally recognized four types of the clauses with the objective to match semantic functions to syntactic elements. The study shows that when  rang  expresses “concession,” it functions as a main verb, which expounds the Predicator of the clause; when it means “causation,” it is a causative verb, which expresses an “influential process,” with the nominal group following  rang  as the Subject of the embedded clause; when  rang  is equal to Chinese “bei,” it is a preposition, whose function is to introduce the Agent of the action and syntactically it together with its following nominal group forms a prepositional group, expounding the Complement of the clause; when  rang  expresses “wishes,” it functions as a Mood marker and syntactically it is analyzed as the direct element of the clause, i.e., Let Element.

ABSTRACT Following a systemic functional approach to ecolinguistic studies, this study explores the Chinese transitivity system's interpretative potential in revealing the dynamic relationship between human beings and their living places. The research extends the transitivity system under the ethical framework of Ecological Sense of Place, drawing on theories from human geography and traditional Chinese philosophies. Within such a premise, the system of process configurations and participants of Chinese process types are reinterpreted, arguing that both the participant and the process should be judged through an ecological lens concerning their function in construing the human-place relationships. The scale of influence and environmental stances of Participant roles is addressed, following a belief that every entity contains participative potential as -er/-ed role of a process. Place as a circumstantial role is expressly acknowledged for their contribution to circumscribe people-place relationships. Regarding the process types, a reconsideration of their emotive, cognitive and agentive features is proposed to reveal the embedded attitudes toward places. These observations extend the knowledge on how the transitivity system can be refined to show the speaker/writer's attitude toward the ecology and its further influences on the collective understanding of human-nature relationships.