“大量”忖度:极词much的认知语用研究

Much ado about “much”: A cognitive-pragmatic study of polarity item “much”

极词much在使用中的极性表现是它编码的量值和它所在命题的信息值在语境中梯级推理的结果。它本指示“较大量”,但在负极性语境中,其量值缩减并导致所在命题的信息值缩减,进而衍生涵义,具体表现为以修辞为目的的弱言和低调。弱言因命题的信息度缩减而“言少意少”;低调却因命题的信息度缩减而“言少意多”。本文首先回顾理论背景,然后以量值和信息值为线索,整合极性敏感性的梯级模型和涵义建构与推导的心智空间理论观点,从认知—语用视角分析much的极性语义特征,阐述其在语言使用中的意义及其解读过程。

The polarity sensitivity of “much” is the results of scalar inferencing in the context based on the quantitativevalue it encodes and its informative-value in the specific proposition. It means “a large amount of something”, however,in the negative polarity context, the “amount” it encodes is minimized and the specific proposition may be uninformative by way of attenuating and understating for the purpose of rhetoric. Attenuation simply involves a relatively uninformative proposition;Understatement involves the use of an uninformative proposition to implicate something more. Taking the informativity as its mainline, this paper discusses the characteristics and the motivation of polarity sensitivity of “much” in the specific usages and its cognitive-pragmatic interpretative processes based on the theoretical analysis of research background and integrated theoretical perspectives of Scalar Model and interconnected network of mental spaces.