Abstract:With the advancement of our society, the communication among human beings is constantly changing. In addition, modern English is also continuously developing and changing, which has promoted the simplification of language in some aspects. As a specific grammatical phenomenon, dangling modifier is used more popularly and frequently on a daily basis. Although dangling modifier is not in line with the grammatical rules, it is also acceptable, especially in science and daily colloquial communication. 

The emphasis of this thesis is put on the pragmatic acceptability of dangling modifier in English. Firstly, it will explain what dangling modifier is, its current research and future direction of research on it. Then the thesis will dwell on its categories and grammatical functions, pragmatic acceptability and its application in scientific abstract, literary works and other practical uses. Besides, the acceptable occasions of dangling modifier and the contextual analysis should also be taken into consideration. The analysis on the correctness of the dangling modifier in terms of its context guides us to get a comprehensive view of dangling modifier and meanwhile provides the convincing theoretical argument for its practical application in the field of pragmatics. 

Keywords: dangling modifier  grammatical function  pragmatic acceptability  application

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 The Definition of Dangling Modifier-1

1.2 The Research on Dangling Modifier-1

Chapter Two The Categories and Grammatical Functions of Dangling Modifier-3

2.1 The Categories of Dangling Modifier-3

2.1.1 Dangling Participle Phrase-3

2.1.2 Dangling Gerund Phrase-3

2.1.3 Dangling Infinitive Phrase-4

2.1.4 Dangling Elliptical Adverbial Clause-4

2.2 The Grammatical Functions of Dangling Modifier-4

2.2.1 As Parenthesis-4

2.2.2 As Preposition and Conjunction-5

Chapter Three The Pragmatic Acceptability and Applicability of Dangling Modifier-6

3.1 The Pragmatic Acceptability of Dangling Modifier-6

3.1.1 The Main Occasions of Acceptable Dangling Modifier-6

3.1.2 The Contextual Analysis on Dangling Modifier-8

3.2 The Application of Dangling Modifier-10

3.2.1 The Applicability in Science and Technology-10

3.2.2 The Applicability in Literary Works-10

3.2.3 The Applicability in Other Aspects-11

Chapter Four Conclusion-13

References-14