functionalstylisticanalysisofmartinlutherking’sspeechihaveadream(编辑修改稿)

functionalstylisticanalysisofmartinlutherking’sspeechihaveadream(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has e back marked “insufficient funds”. In the above paragraph, a set of metaphors are used. Justice is the expression in the set of political words. In this example, its meaning is transferred to a set of financial words, which are plainer and more acceptable. Justice, promise for it, realization of it, and failing to realize it are the tenors. Their vehicles are the bank, the check, a bad check and cashing the check respectively. What should be noticed is that financial industry is highly developed in America and the concept of credit is deeply rooted in the hearts of Americans. Therefore, King appropriately uses “check” to make it clear that the realization of justice is imperative. The above two sections analyzed the meaning transference between two sets of words. In this way, King expresses his opinion clearly and vividly, fulfilling the ideational metafunctional of the speech. . Phrase and Clause Deflection 5 Functionalists regard parallelism as a kind of phrase or clause deflection, which highlights the idea of the writer. In the speech, King inclines to use this device to strengthen the ideational functional meaning he wants to convey. In the speech I Have a Dream, there are ten parallelisms of phrases or clauses. “Speeches are written for the ear more than for the eye. What would be paralleled in writing can be effective in speechmaking.”(Rafenstein, 1999) With the style of a sermon, King uses paralleled phrases or clauses to emphasize important points, guide listeners to follow his thoughts, and stir emotions of his audience. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children. In this paragraph, four clauses with “now is the time” are paralleled. 1963 was a critical moment. King uses parallelism for emphasis, expressing strong emotions that the black should fight for justice without any delay. 2. The Interpersonal Metafunction of the Speech According to Halliday, the interpersonal function of a text is to set up and maintain social relations between the addresser and addressee. Interpersonal metafunction in the speech will be analyzed to find out how King effectively municates with his audience. Three interpersonal features are prominent in the speech: formalness, argumentativeness, and interactiveness. . Formalness－ the First Interpersonal Feature Style is a very important concept in stylistic analysis, because the proper use of the style determines the appropriateness of the discourse on a specific occasion. Qin Xiubai, a famous Chinese linguist divided English into two styles: formal and informal. In functional grammar, 6 Halliday (2020: 350352) proposes a theory of lexical density to distinguish formal and informal English. The equation of lexical density goes as follow: Lexical density of the text = the number of lexical items247。 the number of clauses Lexical item can also be expressed in another way－ content word, including the noun, verb, adjective, and the major part of the adverb. In hallidayan functional grammar, “a clause is (potentially) any stretch of language centered on a verbal group” (Thompson, 16). “Group” in traditional grammar is similar to “phrase”. In the speech I Have a Dream, there are 636 lexical items and 205 clauses. Therefore, according to the equation, the lexical density is . According to Halliday’s conclusion－ the lexical density of the written text ranges from 3 to 6, and the one of the informal spoken discourse from to 2. (Yang, 95) This speech just passes the rate of the formal written style. This proves that on the one hand, King makes a solemn and persuasive speech, and on the other hand, he tries to shorten the social distance by reducing the degree of formalness. . Argumentativeness－ the Second Interpersonal Feature An excellent political speech should have forceful argument for the major function of a political speech is to convince the audience to take action which the addresser expects. As a classic potential speech, I Have a Dream has a tone of strong argument, or concisely, the feature of argumentativeness. . Polarity and Modality Analysis One of the prominent stylistic features in the speech is the repetition of the negative polarity. The negative polarity clearly states the unpromising attitude of King. It achieves the effect of emphasis and persuasiveness. The following is one example: There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot 7 gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” In this example, the negative polarity appears for 10 times, including the finite (“not”), adjuncts (“never”, “not”), and the plement (“nothing”). It reflects the nonnegotiable and unpromised determination of King in the struggle. On the one hand, he gives a definite answer to the question raised by the gradualist。 on the other hand, he appeals to the participants that they should insist on fighting until their goal is ultimately realized. Obviously, the repetition。