There-existential Sentences in Trial: A Corpus-based Approach
- DOI
- 10.2991/ssemse-15.2015.473How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Corpus; There-existential sentence; There; Metafunctions
- Abstract
With the evolution of corpus techniques, there are the possibilities of computers’ capacity for fast, accurate and complex analyses, which could benefit linguists describing linguistic characteristics in different registers. Applying corpus linguistics as methods and trial transcripts as materials, the present study is concerned with there-existential sentence pattern, one traditional grammar. After analyzing data extraction, four detailed sentence patterns are explored with examples. Such a way to examine the data could benefit understandings and interpretations from Halliday’s metafunction theory. Since the materials selected from trial transcripts are spoken legal language, which have both the characteristics of legal language and oral language, results show that existential there, beyond the guidance of new information and new topic, has two more functions---stressed information and corporation; and make bedding for latter interactive, which are the combinational application of all three metafunctions. This paper, as an example of corpus-based approach, shows corpus linguistics great potential, for more comprehensive descriptions of linguistics features and the various understandings of linguistic theory in legal domain.
- Copyright
- © 2015, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Yuxiu Sun AU - Le Cheng PY - 2015/11 DA - 2015/11 TI - There-existential Sentences in Trial: A Corpus-based Approach BT - Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Social Science, Education Management and Sports Education PB - Atlantis Press SP - 1853 EP - 1856 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/ssemse-15.2015.473 DO - 10.2991/ssemse-15.2015.473 ID - Sun2015/11 ER -