ON SUBJECTIFICATION OF THE PRONOUN IT By Xu Zhiping Under the supervision of Dr. Hu Jian A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts to the School of Foreign Studies Anhui University April 2009 i Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Hu Jian, who has carefully corrected my writing and given me thought-provoking suggestions. Words fail me to convey my gratitude to her for her industrious work, enthusiastic encouragement, inspiring comments, patient help and precious advice. To some extent, without her constant encouragement, I can not finish this thesis. I also feel obliged to the outstanding teachers in the Foreign Studies of Anhui University, like Prof. Zhu Yue, Prof. Zhou Fangzhu, Prof. Zhu Xiaomei, Prof. Zhang Ming, Dr. Yang Ling, Dr. Zhang Hongxia, ect., whose profound knowledge and sincere attitudes towards study are sure to have far-reaching influence upon me. Last but not least, my gratitude is given to my wife, who has been creating a pleasant working environment for me during my preparation for the thesis. ii Abstract It, as a pronoun, has been studied both at home and abroad. However, the literature review shows that there is no adequate exploration into such issues, like whether there are connections between the diversified uses of the pronoun it, what connections exist among them, what is the driving force behind the extension of its functions and interpretations. The present study aims to depict the mechanism and process of the diversification of the uses of the pronoun it with the theory of subjectivity and subjectification. According to cognitive linguistics, subjectivity, which is recognized as a human cognitive motivation, plays a significant role in the evolution of syntactic structures. Subjectivity in this study is defined as the expression of self and representation of a speakers perspective and point of view in the propositions; subjectification is defined as the structures and strategies that languages evolve in the linguistic realization of subjectivity or as the relevant processes of linguistic evolution themselves. Mainly based on Traugotts and Langackers views, especially Traugotts correlated diachronic continua of subjectification, The author preposes the four-dimensional correlated continua for analyzing subjectification of the pronoun it, and thoroughly examine semantic features as well as syntactic features in each use of it. By analyzing large quantity of examples, the following conclusions are arrived at: Firstly, various uses of it, namely, referring it, prop it, anticipatory it and attached it are correlated with one another. Strictly speaking, referring it is the prototypical member of the category, and other uses of it are extension and deviation of the prototypical use. Especially, attached it is the peripheral member. Secondly, the underlying force for such extensions is deeply embedded in subjectivitythe subjective involvement of beliefs, attitudes and emotions of the speaker / conceptualizer. When it refers to something assumed to be known, like ambience, the referential relation between it and its referent becomes indirect and is established on the basis of subjective judgment, thus laying the psychological iii foundation for the deviation of the prototypical use of it. Furthermore, in the course of communication, the speaker may modify the linguistic structures for the purpose of expressiveness. These conscious or unconscious factors in the change of conceptual structures will be manifested in the linguistic representations, hence the diversified meanings of it. Finally, all the 4 uses of it witness the weakening tendency of referential relation from referring it to attached it, and the tendency demonstrates growing subjectivity. Besides, the syntactic structure of it becomes increasingly restricted. The specific features of each use of it are summarized as follows. 1) Referring it. Semantically, whether it functions as personal pronoun to replace nouns or as demonstrative to substitute this/that, the referential relation between it and its referent is quite clear, concrete and direct. Syntactically, referring it is quite similar to other personal pronouns or demonstrative ones, quite flexible in syntax, and it can be used as the subject, object or complement of a verb or the object of a preposition. This is the prototypical use of it. 2) Prop it. Semantically, prop it is used to denote weather, time, distance or the ambience in general. It is applied to stand for them without mentioning them before or later, for the referent is supposed to be known for the hearer. In other words, what prop it refers to is not something linguistically manifested. Instead, it refers to something assumed to be obvious for the hearer and therefore, the referential relation becomes indirect, weak as well as subjective. When being used to refer to weather, time, distan