摘要:
众所周知，抽象名词大多涵义概括、指称笼统，常用于表达复杂的思想和内容，因此，在英语学术语篇中使用得相当普遍；另外，抽象名词也是学术语篇中作者构建论点的主要手段之一，而论点的构建对知识的积累尤为重要。鉴于抽象名词在英语学术语篇中的重要性以及国内外目前的研究状况，作者认为有必要对这类名词进行更为全面和深入的探究。本文在以往研究的基础上，结合具体的实例，尝试从语篇衔接、认知语言学和评价理论的视角，对抽象名词在英语学术语篇中的不同功能进行描述和分析，旨在加深对它们的认识，促进它们在实际英语学术写作中的应用。
Abstract:
It is widely known that abstract nouns, being general and unspecific in meaning, often occur in academic discourse，expressing complicated ideas and contents. In addition, they are often used to construct the writer’s arguments in academic discourse, which is vital for the knowledge accumu-lation. However, despite the above mentioned high frequency and significance of abstract nouns in English academic discourse, the research on these nouns, compared with that on other linguistic features or devices, is still far lacking both home and abroad. Therefore, this paper, based on the relevant theories and previous studies, intends to give a complete description and explanation of this type of nouns from the perspectives of textual cohesion, cognition and evaluation. With exam-ples selected from research papers in different fields, the analysis demonstrates clearly the varied functions they perform in academic discourse. It is hoped that such exploration will not only further our understanding of abstract nouns in English, but also contribute to better academic writing of EFL students in China.