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摘 要

List of Tables v

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Need of the study 1

1.2 Research purposes 1

1.3 Organization of the thesis…………………………………………………….2

2. Literature Review 3

2.1 Previous research on rhetorical questions 3

2.1.1 Definitions of rhetorical question………………………………….…3

2.1.2 Characteristics of rhetorical question………………………………… 3

2.1.3 Functions of rhetorical question……………………………………… 4

2.2 Relevant previous research on The Big Bang Theory 6

2.3 Research gap 6

3.Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………. . .…8

3.1 Speech Act Theory………………………………………………………..…...8

3.2 Indirect Speech Act………………………………………………….……….. 8

4. Pragmatic analysis of rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory……….….10

4.1 Data ………………………………………………………….……………....10

4.2 Indirect Speech Act analysis of rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory.10

4.3Summary and Discussion…………………………………………………….14

5. Conclusion 17

5.1 Major findings 17

5.2 Significance of the study 17

5.3 Limitations of this study and suggestions for future rese…arch 18

References 19

Acknowledgments

I really appreciate all the people who have helped and supported me while I was writing this thesis.

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Xiang Mingjian, for his continuous guidance both at the beginning of the topic selection and in the process of data collection. His professional knowledge, rigorous academic attitude, and easy-going personality have a profound impact on me.

Next, I want to thank all the teachers at the School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Nanjing Tech University. They shared their valuable knowledge, broad vision and profound thinking with me so that I can study in a good academic atmosphere.

Then, I want to thank my family and friends who have always been there for me. When I encountered difficulties in the process of writing this thesis, they could always help me to adjust my mood so that I could finish this thesis successfully.

Abstract

Rhetorical questions, as a kind of special existence in interrogative questions, have their own special features in syntax, semantics and functions. The research on rhetorical questions by scholars at home and abroad has never been interrupted. This thesis attempts to study the typical examples of rhetorical questions in the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory within the framework of Austin’s Speech Act Theory and Searle’s Indirect Speech Act, and to explore the sentence patterns and functions of rhetorical questions in sitcom and interpersonal communication.

The corpus used in this study are dialogue lines of characters in the first and second seasons of The Big Bang Theory. Rhetorical questions are selected through screening lines, classified according to different sentence patterns and analyzed in the role of dialogue So the important role of rhetorical questions in interpersonal communication and the application of law can be summarized. Through analysis and summary, the following conclusions are drawn: rhetorical interrogative sentence patterns mainly include declarative sentences, wh- questions and yes-no questions, among which declarative sentences account for a high proportion; Rhetorical questions, on the other hand, have various functions, but can be roughly divided into six categories: (1) express criticism or sarcasm; (2) emphasize obvious points; (3) develop a topic; (4) create a humorous atmosphere; (5) express emotions; (6) make Suggestions on specific topics.

This research has very important research value and practical significance. First of all, this paper analyzes rhetorical questions in sitcoms from the perspective of speech act theory and finds out the sentence pattern characteristics and six main functions of rhetorical questions in sitcom, which adds new contents to the research field of rhetorical questions. Secondly, the research data of this study are from the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, so that the research content can be closer to life, and the research results can be used by the general public to master more interpersonal communication skills.

Keywords: Form; Function; Rhetorical question; Big Bang Theory; Speech Act Theory

中文摘要

修辞性疑问句作为疑问句中一类特殊的存在，在句法，语义和功能等方面都有其特别之处。国内外学者们对于修辞性疑问句的研究一直以来从未间断。本文旨在研究修辞性疑问的句式与功能，以美国情景喜剧 《生活大爆炸》 中的台词为例。

本研究试图以Austin提出的言语行为理论和Searle 提出的间接言语行为为框架对美国情景喜剧《生活大爆炸》中的修辞性疑问的典型实例进行具体研究，探讨修辞性疑问句在情景喜剧以及人际交流中的句式与功能。研究中所用语料皆来自《生活大爆炸》第一季和第二季中角色的对话台词。通过对台词的筛选，挑出修辞性疑问句，按不同句式分类并且分析其在人物对话中的作用，从而总结出修辞性疑问句在人际交流中发挥的重要作用。通过分析总结得出以下结论：修辞性疑问句的句式主要包括陈述句、特殊疑问句和一般疑问句三大类，其中陈述句占比很高；而修辞性疑问句在功能方面则种类繁多，但大概可将其分为六大类，即（1）表达批评或者讽刺；（2）；强调明显的观点；（3）发展话题；（4）创造幽默气氛；（5）表达情绪；（6）针对特定话题提出建议。

本文具有非常重要的研究价值和现实意义。首先，本文从言语行为视角对情景喜剧中修辞性疑问句进行分析并且发现了在情景喜剧的修辞性疑问句中，修辞性疑问句的句式特点和六大主要功能，为修辞性疑问句的研究领域增加新的内容。其次，本研究的研究数据来自情景喜剧《生活大爆炸》，研究内容更加贴近生活，研究结果可供普通大众借鉴，以掌握更多人际对话交流的技巧。

关键词：修辞性疑问句；句式；功能；生活大爆炸；言语行为理论

List of Tables

Table 4.1 The statistics of functions rhetorical questions 10

Table 4.2 Syntactic forms of rhetorical questions 15

Table 4.3 Functions of rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory 15

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Need for the study

Empirical evidence indicates that no real communication can take place without questions (Ilie 2015: 1). Whether questions are explicit or implicit, direct or indirect, their significant role in communication can hardly be overlooked. Each language has a stable interrogative system for users to ask questions in communication. Questions in English are generally divided into four types: Yes-No questions, wh-questions, choice questions and tag questions. The main function of these four types of questions is to satisfy the questioners’ need for information. But in actual communication, asking questions is often more than just to get information. People sometimes express their opinion by asking questions. For example, “Do you take me for a fool?”. In this question, it is obvious that the questioner does not mean to ask the listener whether he is a fool. The questioner’s implied meaning is that “I’m not a fool and don’t lie to me”. This type of question plays a rhetorical role and enhances the expressive ability of language, so it is called ‘rhetorical question’. Compared with other types of interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions may have more complicated interrogative patterns and pragmatic functions. Rhetorical questions always appear frequently in literary works, film and television works and real interpersonal communication and play a variety of irreplaceable roles (Add references).Therefore, it is urgent to study the classification and relevant law of rhetorical interrogative sentence patterns and functions.

1.2 Research purposes

Rhetorical questions always play irreplaceable roles in interpersonal communication. Therefore, rhetorical question has been widely studied by scholars at home and abroad, who have studied rhetorical question from various perspectives, such as rhetoric, syntax and pragmatics. Based on the previous research results, I will analyze the rhetorical questions in sitcom from the perspective of speech act, so as to find the main sentence patterns and functions of rhetorical questions. The corpus I chose is from dialogue lines of the famous life sitcom The Big Bang Theory, so that my research result is more closely to everyone’s life and has more persuasion.

1.3 Organization of the thesis

This dissertation is composed five chapters. In the present introduction, I present the need of the study, the research purpose and the significance of this dissertation.

Chapter 2 reviews previous study on rhetorical questions in terms of their definition, characteristic features, functions as well as research gap.

Chapter 3 will present the theoretical framework of this thesis, starting with the essentials of Austin’s Speech Act Theory and Searle’s Indirect Speech Act before proceeding to their application in discourse and interaction. Then I will analyze the forms and functions of rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory on the basis of Speech Act Theory and Indirect Speech Act.

In chapter 4,1 will summarize the research results by using two statistical charts and discuss them.

Chapter 5 is the concluding section of this study, in which I will summarize the research findings, implications, point out the limitations and give some suggestions for future research.

2. Literature Review

This chapter gives a detailed explanation of the literature review on which the present study is based, including the definitions, characteristics and functions of rhetorical questions and the research gap.

2.1 Previous research on rhetorical questions

2.1.1 Definitions of rhetorical question

The study of rhetorical questions has a long history. Ilie (2015) stated that what we normally call “questions” that is, utterances that are syntactically interrogative sentences, are often perceived by language users as seeking an answer or information. In other word, the questions that aim for answer are called standard questions. Requiring answer and information is often regarded as the most common function of questions. However, not all interrogatives have this information-seeking function in actual communication. Apart from information, questions may receive some other types of responses (Ilie 1994) such as answers of confirmation, permission-granting and suggestion acceptance. Questions that fulfill other functions than requesting information or explicit answers are often called nonstandard questions. In general, those nonstandard questions are grouped into rhetorical questions and expository questions. Although the function of rhetorical questions is not to ask questions, their forms are normal questions, mostly are Yes-No questions and wh-questions.

2.1.2 Characteristics of rhetorical questions

In this subsection, I will explore three characteristics of rhetorical questions. First, the discrepancy between form and function. Gao Linxing (2016) argued that rhetorical questions are questions in form but not in meaning and rhetorical questions usually aim to emphasize or paly appreciation and boredom. For example, rhetorical questions have the form of questions, but do not require the speaker to answer, instead, they serve as assertions rather than questions (Suhr 2006: 32).

The second characteristic is that the answer to rhetorical questions are often implicit, and it could also be in the form of question. Yadugiri (1986). expressed that the formulation of response to yes-no questions depends not only on whether the answerer intends to affirm or negate the proposition put forward in the question but also on the pragmatic implications of the affirmation and negation of certain types of propositions are different. Drawing on Relevance Theory and the Politeness Principle, Hu Jiamin (2006) made a comparative analysis of rhetorical questions used as responses between acquaintances and strangers. The results show that the use of rhetorical questions as responses can produce positive effects between acquaintances but negative effects between strangers.

The third feature of rhetorical questions is the addresser’s commitment to the implied answer. Unlike the real question, rhetorical questions do not require the listener to give an answer because the answer of the question is already implied the responder.(Ilie 1994) After asking a rhetorical question, the listener is able to know the implied answer, which means that the questioner is only using the form of asking questions to convey information or express emotions to the listener. It can also be said that the questioner also makes a promise when asking questions.

2.1.3 Functions of rhetorical questions

Athansiadou (1991) studied the modes and functions of questions. He found that questions are not only about information. Different patterns of asking can reflect the connection between the questioner and the questioned, and the various functions of the question is related to the roles of both sides of questioning. He analyzes the questioner’s intentions and the influence of the question on both the questioner and the answerer according to the dialog database, which comes from some people with different social relations. He concludes that the use of rhetorical assumptions can reflect social relations, which is a special pragmatic function. Besides, Eugene (1999), rhetorical questions can express speaker’s illocutionary act including command, tentative statements and evaluations. By analyzing the use of rhetorical questions in different fields including context-specific questioning practices, political interaction, broadcast interviews, legal settings and medical settings, Ilie (2015) concluded that such nonstandard questions always serve a rhetorical function.

Ilie (1994,1998,1999) investigated the argumentative function of question and response in talk shows and found that the framing of questions and response are central to the talk show structure and is particularly effective in indicating the show guests’ personal and professional lives, while at the same time revealing the show host’s personality.

Next, I will introduce several researches of the pragmatic functions of rhetorical questions by several domestic scholars. Chen Yuanqing (2001) made a preliminary analysis of the pragmatic functions of rhetorical questions by combining the static sentence pattern and dynamic context, focusing on the relationship among the forms, pragmatic functions and effects. Then she found that in specific context, under certain conditions, the commonality of interrogative question is weakened and personal expression is enhanced, which constitutes the special meaning of rhetorical questions. Yao Jianpeng (2006) conducted multi-dimensional analysis of the definition, syntactic features, pragmatic functions and translation of rhetorical questions, he also found that rhetorical questions have rich pragmatic functions and distinctive features in sentence transformation, illocutionary behavior and translation practice.

Cheng Mingxia (2007) also expressed the similar opinion in the thesis Analysis of Rhetorical Questions from the Perspective of Pragmatic. She concluded that the proper use of rhetorical questions is an important condition for people to communicate successfully. Rhetorical question helps us avoid the embarrassment and unhappiness caused by direct expression, and at the same time makes our views more acceptable to the other side, thus achieving the purpose of communication. On the pragmatic analysis of rhetorical question, Wang Xiangfeng and Tang Yuting (2013) studied the pragmatic functions of rhetorical questions from the perspective of speech act theory and found that rhetorical questions can achieve better communicative effects, such as expressing politeness, developing topics, creating humorous atmosphere and promoting reasoning.

What’s more, Xiang Mingjian (2018) found that rhetorical questions can serve a variety of functions, such as giving advice, conveying criticism and emphasizing.

The above is the research on the syntax, function and sentence meaning of rhetorical questions by scholars at home and abroad. Next, I will discuss the analysis of the linguistic characteristics of scholars in The Big Bang Theory, so as to better carry out the research on the form and function of rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory on the basis of previous studies.

2.2 Relevant previous research on the Big Bang Theory

Li Lihong (2011) commented on the language features of the Big Bang Theory from the perspective of linguistics, and analyzed the source of humor by using the cooperative principle of pragmatics. He also made a comparative analysis of the precise scientific language and the fuzzy language in daily life, and found that sometimes the violation of the principle of cooperation and the use of fuzzy language is more conducive to interpersonal communication. There is also another researcher, Lin Ya (2015) studied the language features and pragmatic of the Big Bang Theory based on the principle of cooperation. They both analyze the language feature of The Big Bang Theory by using the principle of cooperation. As a reference, I will also study the relation between the principle of cooperation and rhetorical questions. Yan qing shows that the humorous language is a sentence game, and one of the ways to achieve the humorous effect through language expression is to facilitate the metaphorical expression in his research on The humorous language expression of The Big Bang Theory. Through her research, I found that the metaphors in The Big Bang Theory often appear in the form of rhetorical questions.

2.3 Research gap

From the above literature, we can see that scholars have studied the form and functions of rhetorical questions from various perspectives and come up with some insightful and inspiring conclusions. However, we can also discover that only very few researchers have studied the forms and functions of rhetorical questions in the Big Bang Theory.

3. Theoretical Framework

In this chapter, I will first give a brief introduction to Austin’s speech act theory. Then I’ll explain what is an indirect speech act.

3.1 The Speech Act Theory

Speech act theory is a philosophy of language, which was put forward by Austin and developed by Searle and others. According to Austin (Add references), language is a kind of special behavior of people, and people can’t do without speech behaviors such as speaking and writing in the actual communication process. The central task of the philosophy of linguistic analysis should be to study the essence and internal logical structure of such speech acts. Speech acts are the smallest unit of meaning and human communication. There are three types of speech acts: 1) Locutionary Act, that is the act of saying words, phrases, and clauses. It is the act of expressing literal meaning through syntax, vocabulary, and phonemes; 2) Illocutionary Act, that is the act of expressing the speaker’s intention. It is the act performed while saying something; 3) Perlocutionary Act, that is the act performed by certain words. It is the consequence or change caused by words and it is the act accomplished by certain words. Among the three speech acts, the most important ones are illocutionary act and perlocutionary act, which are the focus of pragmatics because they are the center of language communication.

3.2 Indirect Speech Act

Indirect speech act is a kind of speech act and it is usually performed by more than one illocutionary force. A verbal form of a paragraph that does not directly reflect its intended purpose. For example, “I'm feeling cold” can be used to ask someone to close the door. If someone says this literally to show that he is cold, it is a direct speech act, an assertion. On the basis of Austin’s speech act theory, Searle put forward the theory of indirect speech act in 1975, that is, the implementation of one illocutionary force is realized indirectly through the implementation of another indirect speech act. In fact, rhetorical question is a kind of indirect speech act, by asking this speech act to complete another speech act. Later, linguists interpreted this theory from different angles, such as the principle of cooperation, politeness and face.

4 Pragmatic Analysis of Rhetorical Questions in The Big Bang Theory

4.1 Data

The rhetorical questions referred to in this study are all from the first and second seasons of the Big Bang Theory. The reason why I choose The Big Bang Theory as the corpus of this thesis is not because it is famous, but also the actors in this sitcom have distinct personalities and speak in their own way, which can represent people of different social groups. Altogether there are 120 sentences in total, including 58 Yes-No questions, 40statements, 22 wh-questions. It can be seen that the forms of rhetorical questions are mainly declarative sentences, Yes-No questions and wh-questions.

This thesis will analysis these rhetorical questions from the big bang theory to find out what kind of indirect speech act does it act and what role does it paly.

4.2 Indirect Speech Act analysis of rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory

In the new perspective of pragmatic grammar, rhetorical question is a special sentence pattern that can fully express the speaker's intention. In a specific context, the first illocutionary behaviors of interrogative sentences can be assertion, suggestion, reminder, request, invitation, blame, praise, greeting, promise, announcement, etc. Due to context and other factors, rhetorical questions express other speech acts in the form of interrogative speech acts, indirectly expressing the speaker's thoughts and his own attitude. Rhetorical questions are used to fulfill some pragmatic purposes.

Table 4.1 The statistics of functions and examples of rhetorical questions

The table above lists the main functions and frequency of rhetorical questions in the big bang theory. Some of these functions appear less than five times here and I don't list them because they are too infrequent to be universal.

(1) Rhetorical questions, as indirect speech acts, play an ironic and critical role in The Big Bang Theory. In the first episode of season 1, Leonard has a crush on his new neighbor, Penny, and wants to fall in love with her. Sheldon believes that the two can never be lovers. when Penny is using their bathroom, Sheldon asks “Do you think this possibility will be helped or hindered when she discovers your Luke Skywalker no-more-tears shampoo?” In fact, Sheldon is making fun of the fact that Leonard will never be with Penny, because it's clear that Leonard and Penny are two people who have completely different personalities and will never cross paths in their lives. Here, Sheldon's question is an indirect speech act, an indirect satire of Leonard's unrealistic ideas.

(2) Rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory are speech acts of emphasis sometimes. In the tenth episode of season 1, Penny returns from a trip to Tennessee with her family, and while discussing the trip with Leonard and Penny, she mentions that all her family members are sick. Sheldon is alarmed to learn that Penny has the virus and asks her to leave or spray her with disinfectant. Leonard asks Sheldon that “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Leonard is not asking Sheldon, but using a question to indirectly emphasize that Sheldon is overreacting.

(3) Rhetorical questions are used to develop topics in the play. When the story is in an awkward moment, the actors often use a rhetorical question, ostensibly to raise questions, but actually to develop topics and avoid embarrassment. In the first episode of season 1, Sheldon and Leonard initially plan to donate sperm for money, but they change their minds in the middle of the project and the plan is scrapped. At the head of the stairs on their way home, Sheldon and Leonard feel very regretful and fall silent. At this point, Sheldon asks Leonard, “Do you want to hear a story about stairs?” Apparently, Sheldon is not really asking Leonard if he wants to hear the story. Instead, Sheldon is looking for something to talk about to avoid the depressing and awkward situation. Therefore, the question here is an indirect speech act used to develop the topic.

(4) Rhetorical questions are often used to create a sense of humor. Sometimes rhetorical questions are used as pleasantries or playful speech acts to create humor. In the 12th episode of season 1, Sheldon says he wants to develop a device that can copy a person's genes and create another one. At this point, Leonard asks Sheldon “Would the new Sheldon be in any way an improvement on the old Sheldon?” Apparently, Leonard isn't really interested in the device Sheldon's about to develop. When he asks is a joke, creating humor with a question that raises assumptions. Therefore, this question serves to create a humorous atmosphere.

(5) Rhetorical questions sometimes express a certain mood of the speaker, either happiness or sadness or anger or shock. In the second episode of season 1, Sheldon and Leonard sneak into penny's house to clean up her room because Sheldon is obsessive-compulsive. Sheldon leaves a note telling Penny that he and Leonard helped with the cleaning. The next morning, Penny is angry when she finds that they entered her house in the middle of the night without permission. “You came into my apartment last night when I was sleeping?” she asks. In this case, Penny already knows about it but asks them anyway because this question is a subtext, an indirect expression of anger and shock. What's more, the question forms a declarative sentence with an interrogative tone, which enhances Penny's angry mood.

(6) Rhetorical questions are sometimes used as a speech act to make Suggestions. One day, Leonard and Howard find Sheldon talking to a beautiful woman. They later learn she's Sheldon's sister, Misy. Misy is leaving for another city to attend a friend's wedding. Both Leonard and Howard love Misy and want her to stay one more night. So, Leonard says to Misy, “If the wedding's not until tomorrow, why don't you stay with us tonight?” Apparently, it was a suggestion that she should stay tonight. This kind of sentence frequently appears in the play, it can be seen that rhetorical question is often an indirect speech act, as a function of making Suggestions.

All of the above is a concrete analysis of the indirect speech acts of rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory.

4.3 Summary and discussion

Figure4.1 presents a descriptive statistic of the main forms of rhetorical questions. It reports the number and proportion of different forms. As can be seen from the figure, among the sentence patterns of rhetorical questions, Yes-No questions and declarative sentences account for a higher proportion, followed by wh-qustions.

Figure 4.2 clearly shows the six main functions of rhetorical questions in The Big Bang Theory, namely (1) to express criticism or sarcasm; (2) to emphasize obvious points; (3) to develop a topic; (4) to create a humorous atmosphere; (5) to express emotions; (6) to make suggestions on specific topics.

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