SOME REMARKS ON THE SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS OF THE SO-CALLED ASPECTUAL MARKERS JI既 AND YI已 IN HAN PERIOD CHINESE

试论所谓的标志动态的词素“既”，“已”的句法和语义

梅思德(Barbara Meisterernst)

《Journal of Chinese Linguistics》 33卷1期 (2005/01) Pp. 68-113

摘要

This paper deals with the question whether the so-called aspectual markers ji 既 and yi 已 in Classical and Han period Chinese are genuine markers of the perfective aspect. The discussion is not based on the historical evolution of both markers but on their syntactic distribution in the sentence and on their semantic interplay with the verb they modify. We hypothesize that syntactically ji 既 and yi 已 are genuine adverbs serving to modify the aspectual value of the whole VP and not aspect markers serving to indicate the aspect of the verb comparable to the aspectual suffix -le 了 in Modern Mandarin. A comparison of unmarked and marked VPs clearly demonstrates that in Han period Chinese a verb phrase does not have to be modified by one of the two morphemes to express perfectivity or related notions. Depending on the situation type (Aktionsart) of the verb or the verb phrase, different aspectual values can be expressed without any obvious marking. Adverbs generally serve to emphasize particular nuances of the VP and the adverbs ji 既 and yi 已 serve to highlight nuances such as the factual occurrence of an event or a state, frequently a state that results from a preceding event. They are rather comparable to aspectual adverbs such as yijing 已经 'already' in Modern Mandarin or 'already' in English.

關鍵字

Classical and Han period Chinese ； perfective aspect ； situation type ； adverb

並列摘要

本文想讨论“既”，“已”在汉代汉语裏是否为标志动态词素的问题。这研究不建立在“既”， “已”的历史发展上。而以它们在句法和语义中的用作为研究基础。作者假定“既”，“已”在语句构成上是真正的有修饰VP的功能的副词，不是标志动态的助词，不可以和现代汉语指示完成的动态词尾“-了”比较。作者想说明在汉代汉语中动词的动态无必要有标志。根据动词的语义在汉代汉语中没有标志的动词可以表达或动作完成，或动作进行，或事情的状态 。因为修饰VP的副词一般有强调VP意义的功能，所以作者认为副词“既”，“已”的主要功能首先是着重指示动作的完成或成果或结果的状态(resultant state)；其次是着重指示动作或事实状态的发生。我们认为“既”，“已”可以和现代汉语中的副词“已经”，英语的副词“already”相比。不同于动态词尾“-了”。

並列關鍵字

古代汉语 ； 汉代 ； 完成式 ； 动态 ； 副词