Verb + Noun Function-Describing Compounds

「動－名」異心複合詞之研究

史嘉琳(Karen Steffen Chung)

《國立臺灣大學文史哲學報》 41期 (1994/06) Pp. 181+183-221

https://doi.org/10.6258/bcla.1994.41.05

摘要

西、法、漢諸語中都有一種類似的「異心」（exocentric）「動－名」複合詞：第一個成分是及物或不及物動詞，第二個則是這個動詞的名詞補語；但此補語非「中心名詞」（noun head）。譬如「調羹」所指的是「可以用來調羹的《器具》」，而不是「羹」。雖然西、法、漢語屬兩個不同的語系（印歐、漢藏語系），但此類複合詞的結構卻完全相同，所指的對象亦極為相近；即（一）實用的日常物品，如「鎮紙」、「扶手」等；以及（二）職稱，如「司機」、「推事」等。因為本篇只探討此類複合詞在這三個語言裡的情形，所以無法提出相關的「普遍現象」（language universal）；不過，根據對這三個語言的觀察，或許我們可以這麼說：在常用這種構詞方式的語言中，有的事物（即有凸出功能或特徵者）與職稱以此類複合詞表現出來的機率高於非此類事物與職稱。因西、法、漢等語皆屬SVO（主－動－賓）型語言，所以動名詞序也相同；如舉例自具有此類複合詞的SOV型語言（如緬甸語），則其詞序將反轉為「名－動」。由此可知，一個語言的句法規則亦反映在其構詞模式中。

並列摘要

In this study we examine a class of exocentric nominal compounds (i.e. compounds with an unexpressed noun head) in Spanish, French, and Chinese. This class consists of nominal-compounds formed by a verb-plus a noun complement, usually though not necessarily a direct object, which combine to describe a function or characteristic of a new whole. In the three languages studied: here, compounds of this type tend to fall into two semantic groups: (1) utilitarian objects, such as 'paperweights' and 'armrests', which are perhaps best and most easily described by their functions; and (2) specialized professions, like 'drivers' and 'switchmen'; plus a subcategory of often pejorative, tongue-in-cheek descriptions of certain types of people, like 'wet blankets' and 'quack dentists'; and a smaller subcategory of other living things, i.e. plants and animals. The fact that languages in such diverse families as Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan-selectively, comparing, however, only SVO languages-exhibit the same type of compound, and use it to indicate extremely similar referents, suggests that certain objects in which a main function or peculiar characteristic stands out (e.g. an umbrella, whose one main function is to protect one from the rain) are more likely than words not of this type to be expressed in a verb + noun exocentric compound, in languages in which this compound type commonly occurs. This is also true of profession names, in which function is an outstanding element; as well as of certain types of people, who are identified chiefly by a particular characteristic (such as being a 'fight-picker'); and other living things possessing some salient feature. The study of this method of compounding-and compounding in general-may also have significance in the area of word order typology. The observation that the syntax of a language is reflected in its morphology is borne out through a comparison of this word type in languages not treated in this paper; for example, a similar compound type occurs in Burmese and Persian, both SOV languages, but in an inverted noun + verb format. Further examination of this compound type in various languages promises to make contributions to the study of language universals, word order typology, comparative morphology, and our understanding of the interrelationships among the three.