语言学论文哪里有？本研究旨在探讨壳名词在语言语篇中的使用。通过对外壳名词的频率及其改进的六种词汇语法模式的分析，以及对外壳名词在语言语篇中的语义、衔接和评价功能的讨论。
Chapter One Introduction
1.2 Objective and Significance of the Study
1.2.1 Objective of the Study
This study attempts to explore the usage of shell nouns in Linguistic discourses witha fresh perspective.
The objective of this study is to investigate the structural characteristics andfunctional characteristics of shell nouns in linguistic discourses, as well as the similaritiesand differences on the usage of shell nouns and their lexico-grammatical patterns inlinguistic discourses compared with general discourses.
1.2.2 Significance of the Study
In those studies of shell nouns, researchers mainly rely on the settled shell nouns, andlexico-grammatical patterns and functions of shell noun proposed by Schmid (2000), toexplore the discourse functions, the use characteristics of shell nouns, and collocationpatterns, etc. However, unlike these researches, the author adopts the lexico-grammaticalpatterns perfected by author, interpreting canonical shell nouns in linguistic discourse.Rather than focusing on the shell nouns in same discourses, the author takes comparativecorpus-based analyses, explicitly signaling to the reader unique features of shell nouns inlinguistic discourses.
Chapter Three Theoretical Framework
3.1 Semantic Classification of Shell Nouns
The semantic generality of shell nouns is a special property used to encapsulateprevious information from the pragmatic perspective. Schmid (2000, P. 87) points out thatthe specific meanings of shell nouns derive from their real uses in a specific contextinstead of their lexical meanings. Moreover, the semantic generality of shell nounsfacilitates their classification due to limited number of semantic features carried by shellnouns. Schmid (2000) classifies shell nouns into six categories, which are factual,linguistic, mental, modal, eventive and circumstantial in accordance with their semanticfeatures. Table 3.1 shows Schmid’s semantic classification of shell nouns.
The six classes in Table 3.1 can be divided into two broad parts in terms of theirrepresentativeness of the class of shell nouns. The first part comprises the first four classes,i.e. factual, linguistic, mental and modal nouns, which can generally be considered toproduce typical shell noun usages. These nouns are characterized by a clear empiricalfeature connection, a relatively strong reliance on the dominant patterns 'N-be-cl' and'N-cl' in Table, and a generalisation of abstract states of affairs rather than actions orevents. The second part includes eventive and circumstantial nouns which, according tothese criteria, could be considered less desirable or even marginal uses of shell nouns.
Chapter Five Results and Discussion
5.1 Structural Analysis of Shell Nouns
5.1.1 Shell Nouns in Linguistic Discourses Corpus (LDC)and COBUILDCorpus (CC)
Once those top 30 high-frequency shell nouns are selected, facilitated with theknowledge of lexical grammatical patterns of shell nouns, the researcher carries out acomparison of shell noun usage and their lexico-grammatical patterns between LDC andCC in terms of frequency, overview difference, and the patterns and reliance ofco-occurring shell nouns.
5.1.1.1 Frequency
Referring to the 35 “highly popular” abstract nouns in academic writing proposed byHinkle (2004) in Teaching academic ESL writing: Practical techniques in vocabulary & grammar, this section elaborates frequencies of 30 commonly-used shell nouns in the twocorpora.
Figure. 5.1 is a visualization of representation of the keywords in linguisticdiscourses corpus, while the Figure 5.2 is that of shell nouns. The importance of eachword is shown with font size, which enables us to quickly find the most prominent words.
5.2 Functional Analyses of Shell Nouns
This section focuses on the functions of the shell nouns aiming to answer the secondquestion. Firstly, the semantic function based on the six semantic category classification isanalyzed. In the second part, it demonstrates how the shell nouns in sixlexico-grammatical patterns respectively realize the cohesive functions. In the end,evaluate function is illustrated through analyzing 30 high-frequency shell nouns as stancemarkers and three kinds of stance construction.
5.2.1 Semantic Function
From a semantic perspective, the major function of shell nouns is the characterizationof the complex information which is given in the shell conten（tSchmid, 2000, p. 308). Thesemantic function can be realized linguistically by two parts of shell-noun phrases, namelyshell head nouns and premodifiers. In the descriptive part of this section, the author willfocus on Characterization expresses by shell nouns.
The semantic “generalization” of shell nouns facilitates the semantic categoryclassification of shell nouns. Schmid (2000, p. 4) divides shell nouns into factual class,linguistic class, mental class, modal class, eventive class and circumstantial classaccording to semantic connotation: shell nouns that objectively express facts belong tofactual class; and those related to written or oral language are linguistic class; and thoseexpressing beliefs, opinions, expectations, thinking processes and other mental activitiesare mental class; and those that express possibility, ability, and need are modal types; andthose involving semantic connotations such as action occurrence, position transfer, andstate change are eventive class; and those relate to location, location, environment, etc.belong to circumstantial class.
Chapter Six Conclusion
6.2 Implications
Although this study is conducted based on a small-scale research, it provides someinsights for the use of shell nouns and their lexico-grammatical patterns, as well as theirfunctions.
First of all, the investigation of shell nouns in the thesis provides practical referencefor further studies. Furthermore, a systematic analysis on shell nouns in linguisticdiscourses enriches the research area of shell nouns.
Secondly, the thesis provides pedagogical enlightenment for linguistic writing teachingon the use of shell nouns, especially for those linguistic scholars, who are well-regulatedto employ shell nouns with ease whether on the election of shell nouns, their patterns ortheir semantic, cohesive and evaluation functions.
In the end, the comparison on shell nouns between linguistic and general discoursebring inspiration that the use of shell nouns varies with the genre, which could draw otherscholars’ attention in different subjects to consider the appropriate use of shell nouns intheir own articles.
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