A Probe into the Subject in English.doc

a probe into the subject in english abstract : the concept and function of the subject in english has been a topic discussed for many years . this paper tries to explore the subject in a way of its function , classification and position and realization of grammatical metaphor .key words : subject , functions , classification position ,realization of grammatical metaphor . 英语的主语问题探讨摘 要：英语中主语的问题是个长期被关注的既简单又复杂的问题。本文拟从主语的功能，分类，在句中的位置及其在语法隐喻的体现关键词：功能，分类，位置，体现i . different views of the subject . the definitions of subjects are not identical concerning the functions it plays . 1. subject from the traditional grammar point of view . subject is defined as a noun , noun phrase or pronoun that usually comes before a main verb and represents the person or the thing that performs the action of the verb or about which something is stated , such as she in she hit john or elephants in elephants are big .( longman dictionary of contemporary english : 1998). 2.mathesiuss view. in the earliest stages of indo-european languages the theme of the utterance appears to have expressed the agent of the action predicated by the verb . in comparing present day czech and english he finds that in czech the subject has largely preserved the function of the agent. in english , on the other hand , the subject has to a considerable extent acquired thematic function . the function of expressing the agent of the action has been appreciably weakened in favor of the function to express the theme of the utterance . in his discussion of the functional sentence perspective he claims that the presumable origin of the grammatical subject probably arose from a formally fixed manner of expressing the theme of the utterance . ( mathesius : 1975)3. jerspersens view . in his discussion of grammatical subject he raised three ranks: primary , secondary and tertiary , claiming that in every sentence there are some elements (secondary words ) which are comparatively fluid or liquid , and others (primary words ) that are more firmly fixed . the subject is always the primary , though not necessarily the only primary in the sentence . to subject is comparatively definite and special while the predicate is less definite ,and thus applicable to a greater number of things . (jerpersen : 1924) 4. ertls view about subject :czech scholar ertl classified subject into three categories : psychological subject , grammatical subject and logical subject and made a clear distinction for the first time in 1926 (liu : 2002) . psychological subject has to do with the concern of the message ; grammatical subject refers to that of which something is predicated and logical subject means the doer of the action 5. hallidays view : various interpretations have grown up around the subject notion , ascribing it to a number of rather different functions . these resolve themselves into three broad definitions , which could be summarized as follows : psychological subject , grammatical subject and logical subject . psychological subject meant that which is the concern of the message . it was called psychological because it was what the speaker had in his mind to start with , when embarking on the production of the clause . grammatical subject meant that of which is being predicated because at that time the construction of subject and predicate was thought of as a purely formal grammatical relationship ; it was seen to determine various other grammatical features , such as the case of the noun or pronoun that was functioning as subject , and its concord of person and number with the verb , but it was not thought to express any particular meaning (i.e. on which rests truth of the argument ); logical subject meant the doer of the action it was called logical in the sense this term had had from the seventeenth century , that of having to do with relations between things , as opposed to grammatical relations , which were relations between symbols .there is such thing as a general concept of subject of which these are different varieties . they are not three kinds of anything ; they are three quite different things ; in order to take account of this, we will replace the earlier labels by separate ones which relate more specifically to the functions concerned : psychological subject : theme , grammatical subject : subject , logical subject : actor .(halliday : 2000) thus , the lakers, grammatical subject and logical subject are realized by theme , subject and actor respectively .to make clear these concepts and distinctions , lets look at the following sentences . 1). not surprisingly , the rocket was beaten by the lakers again . in this sentence not surprisingly is the (theme); , the rocket is the grammatical subject (subject )and the lakers is the logical subject (agent ) . 2) monitor we elected him . monitor is the psychological subject (theme); we is the grammatical subject (subject ) and also the agent of the action ( logical subject ). 3). john moved the table . john is the grammatical subject , psychological subject and logical subject as well in other words john is the theme(concern and starting point of the message ), agent (doer of the action ) and subject (in respect of whom the clause is claimed to be valid )ii. functions of the subject 1. subject as agent . e.g. he helped me a lot .the subject he is the doer of the action , acting as agent . he is the agent or doer of the action . 2. subject as patient . e.g. he was deeply moved by the story . he is the patient or receiver of the action . 3. subject as experiencer e.g. she is feeling better today . the subject she is the experiencer or senser of the action . iii. three different levels of syntactic analysis of the subject 1. semantic sentence pattern johnwrotethe poemactor process goal 2. grammatical sentence pattern john wrote the poem.subject verb object 3. communicative sentence patter john wrote the poem.themetransition rhemeiv. position of the subject in the sentence a. precedes the verb phrase in :1) statements (both positive and negative)e.g. last night jane wanted us to baby-sit . in that case, he should not have done that . 2) questions (special questions introduced by who , what , which , functioning as subject e.g. who told you that ? which (one )came first ? what makes you look so sad ? what causes the air-crash ?b. follows the (first word of the )verb phrase in :1) yes/no questions e.g. are you in the same class ? do you have a good idea where to go ? 2)questions introduced by when , where , why and howe.g. when did you last see her ? where did you the summer holiday ? why is the government so eager to enter the common market ? how did the government manage to pull through the financial catastrophe ?v. constituent used as subject (grammatical subject)1. nominal group(inanimate and animate) as subjecte.g. the novel is the bestseller of the year (inanimate) this man living next door is our maths teacher . (animate) the duck quacked . (animate) the air transmits the sound. (inanimate/substance and abstract nominal phrase)2. pronoun as subject e.g. he likes the teapot . six hundred flights were delayed and ours was one of them .3. proper names as subject e.g. the summer place is one of the most famous scenic spots in beijing . the united nations is expected to exert more and more important influence on the world affairs. 4. non-finite verb group as subject1) infinitive phrase as subject to argue with the captain is asking for trouble . it is considered rude to spit in public .2) gerundial phrase as subject ignoring the problem is unsuitable . it is no use crying over split milk .5. numerals as subjecte.g. three plus three is six . three is my lucky number . vi. subject as a realization of grammatical metaphor 1. mental process used incongruently as subjecte.g. the vivid description of the incident made us laugh . in this sentence, describe transferred incongruently from process to participant .the congruent form is the sentence is : he described the scene vividly ,and it made us laugh . 2. circumstance used incongruently as subject e.g. the beginning of the 20th century witnessed the discovery of radium . her sadness is beyond description the beginning of the 20th and her sadness are originally circumstances of manner and time respectively but used metaphorically as participant or subject . the congruent form of the sentences are :radium was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century . she is very sad and it is difficult to describe with words . 3. mental process used incongruently as subject e.g. winterbournes preference had that they should conveyed to chillon in a carriage . (relational process )in this sentence , preference deriving from prefer shows a shift from process to participant. the congruent form is winterbourne had preferred that they should be conveyed to chillon in a carriage ( mental process ) 4. mental process incongruently realized by existential process e.g. there are different views concerning the nature of perception (existential process ) . the congruent realization is people view the nature of perception differently (mental process ) 5. clause used incongruently as subject 1) consequential relation metaphorically realized by a material processe.g. his timely help pulled us through the crisis .his timely help is also used metaphorically, the congruent form of which might be something like because of his timely help, we pulled through the crisis . another example : his fear of losing prevented him from entering .the consequential relation between his fear of losing and his entering is metaphorically realized by a material process prevented from instead of its congruent realization :he was afraid of losing , so he did not enter . 2) temporal relation metaphorically realized by a relational process e.g. intensive