Language change in Chinese political discourse based on the relationship between sentence and clause

Abstract

The present paper explored the language change in Chinese political discourse in Mainland through the investigation of the relationship between sentence and clause based on Menzerath-Altmann law. The results showed that the relationship between sentence and clause in first and second periods (1978-1982 and 1997-2001) Chinese political discourses abide by the Menzerath-Altmann law, while they do not abide by the law in third period. The average clause length distribution in first and second periods political discourse can be fitted by the y=axb and the fitted parameters can distinguish the different periods political speeches. The relationship between sentence and clause changed with time.