修辞问句言语行为实施的认知机制研究

A Cognitive Study of the Mechanism of the Performance of the Speech Act by Rhetorical Questions

本文调查《双城记》、《简爱》和《呼啸山庄》等文学名著中的100多个修辞问句,分析发现修辞问句是用来实施断言或陈述行为的一种间接言语行为问句。在一个修辞问句中,肯定命题实施一种否定的断言或陈述行为;否定命题实施一种肯定的断言或陈述行为。作者在认知语言学转喻理论框架中建立修辞问句的言语行为场景模型。在这一模型里,一个修辞问句实施的断言或陈述行为包括前段(言者对听者看法不满)、中段(言者敦促听者接受自己的观点或者要求听者按所言行事)和后段(听者愿意接受言者的观点)三个部分。一个修辞问句言语行为的实施是采用转喻方式,用前段、中段或后段来转指整个陈述或断言行为。笔者发现,这样的转喻在修辞问句言语行为实施过程中表现为传递性的多层级映射,遵循着"态度指代断言或陈述"的转喻原则。

The current study is conducted on the basis of more than 100 rhetorical questions collected from The Tale of Two Cities, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and other literary works. A rhetorical question is defined in this study as an indirect-speech-act question, in which a positive/negative proposition is used to state a negative/positive assertion. There arises the question why it is so. In order to find out a plausible answer to the question, the study sets up a speech act scenario model related to rhetorical questions within the theoretical frame of the cognitive study of metonymy. Within the model, to say a rhetorical question is to make an assertion or statement by means of metonymy, that is, the BEFORE, CORE, and AFTER, which are the component parts of an act of assertion or statement, can each stand for the whole act. To be more specific, the speaker uses his/her disagreement, protest, etc. （BEFORE） to stand for his/her assertion or statement ; the speaker makes use of his/her challenge of the hearer to accept his/her idea or to perform the act as is required （CORE） to stand for his/her assertion or statement; the speaker uses the hearer＇ s willingness to accept his/her idea （AFTER） to stand for his/her assertion or statement. The study further found that the metonymy in the performance of the speech act by rhetorical questions is characterized by transferable and multilevel mapping, that is, the metonymic relation can be transferred across levels. The metonymic mechanism for the performance of the speech act by rhetorical questions is ＂attitude for assertion/statement＂.