美国总统就职演说词中级差的自然化功能

The Naturalization Function of Graduation in the Inaugural Speeches of Presidents of the United States

级差是评价理论的一个重要的子系统,用于调节情感的力度和介入的程度。通过对三篇总统就职演说中级差资源进行分析发现,级差资源在演说词中分布广泛,上升性级差资源,特别是上升性语势资源运用地非常频繁,表明总统坚定的立场;在量化中,对数字调节的数量资源使用得最多,上升性的量化资源用来强调话题的重要性,而下降性的量化则削弱消极影响、弱化分歧;聚焦资源的数量不多,却是旗示判断意义的重要部分。这些级差的分布特点,均有助于总统自然化自己的立场,让听众自然而然地接受,体现自然化功能。

Graduation system is an important subsystem of Appraisal Theory, which adjusts the degree of intensity of Attitude and Engagement in utterance. A study of the Graduation resources in three presidents' inaugural speeches shows that Graduation resources are widely distributed. Among them, up- scaling Force resources, especially up- scaling Intensification, are frequently used to show presidents' firm stances. In Quantification, the Number resource which manages the use of numbers plays a major role while up-scaling Quantification usually emphasizes the importance of topics and down-scaling one weakens negative effects or removes conflicts. Though in a small number, Focus resource still plays an important role in flagging president's judgment. All the Graduation resources contribute to naturalizing president's stance, and then making the audience accept it naturally, which shows the function of naturalization.