中文近義詞「之前/以前」及「之後/以後」之時間距離差異研究

Temporal Distance Distinction in Two Pairs of Mandarin Chinese Near-Synonyms Zhiqian/Yiqian and Zhihou/Yihou

林玥彤(Yueh-Tung Lin)

指導教授 ： 呂佳蓉

國立臺灣大學/文學院/語言學研究所/碩士(2013年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2013.02212

摘要

本篇論文以口語語料庫為本，探討兩組中文時間近義詞「之前」、「以前」以及「之後」與「以後」的時間距離差異，並以認知語法為描述的理論框架。
兩組時間詞皆有「後附」及「單用」的使用形式，如以下例句所示。

(1)後附
a.[他打電話來 RP]之前/以前[我在睡覺 TG]。
b.[他打電話來 RP]之後/以後[我就睡不著了 TG]。
(2)單用
a.他之前/以前[來過 TG]。
b.他之後/以後[會來TG]。

後附使用中，這些時間詞附著於某一前置成分之後，該前置成分通常表達某一可作為「參照點」（reference point，RP）的事件。參照點用以標示與「目標事件」或「目標物」（target，TG）之間在時間上的相對順序，屬「相對時間參照」。單用時，在小句的層次上時間詞並未附著於任何參照點之後，然而有時上文會提及參照點，有時則無，前者亦為「相對時間參照」，後者則以「說話當下」（speech time）為參照時間（reference time），將目標事件定位於過去或未來，屬「絕對時間參照」。

後附使用中，近義詞之間意義大抵相同，可互換使用，然而單用的「絕對時間參照」用法中，卻有「時間距離」遠近的差異：「之前」指的是離說話當下不久前的過去，「以前」指的是較為遙遠的過去，「之後」標示較近的未來，「以後」則標示較遠的未來。先行研究多半著重這些時間詞「後附」使用時共同的功能，雖有零星研究和辭典指出每組近義詞之間搭配詞的差異，但皆未觸及時間距離的議題。

本研究認為，後附使用時，兩組近義詞內的兩個詞所搭配的目標事件類型並無明顯差異。參照點與目標事件之間的距離由參照點本身的時間位置及目標事件本身的時間位置所決定，不論使用哪一個時間詞來排序這兩個事件，都不影響兩者之間的時間距離。而兩事件之間的時間距離又通常是短的，從客觀的概念內容(conceptual content)來看，相關的事件往往在時間上也是接近的，從主觀的識解(construal)來看，由於以這四個詞排序兩事件時並未側重(profile)其他介於中間的事件，使得兩事件彷彿是接連發生的，因而具有將參照點和目標事件拉近的功能。因此後附使用時，不論是用「之」或是「以」帶出的時間詞描述兩者的順序，兩事件的時間距離都是近的，近義詞間可互換不造成影響。

另一方面，「之」本身有代詞及領屬標記的功能，「之前」和「之後」單用時絕大部分都回指到前文提及的參照點。在領屬標記「之」所標示的所有關係中，所有者和所有物往往在空間距離上接近，在時間範疇中亦然。在絕對時間參照的用法中，雖然不再有以語言呈現的參照點，但依附於從屬關係的近距性(proximity)依然保留，因此「之前」指離說話當下較近的過去，「之後」則指離說話當下較近的未來。

「以」則標示由某一起點開始往某一方向不斷「延伸」後所包含的所有範圍，終點並未說出但往往可推測而得，如「濁水溪以南」指的是以濁水溪為起點，往南的方向不斷延伸後所涵蓋的範圍，終點未說出，但可推知最遠為臺灣的最南端。後附使用中，參照事件和目標事件距離相近，因此目標事件的發生即為「以前」和「以後」的「延伸」義在範圍較短時就劃下終點。單用中以說話當下為參照時間時，「以」的「延伸」義可浮現，使「以前」和「以後」分別由說話當下往「過去」和「未來」兩個方向不斷延伸。搭配上可持續或重複發生的目標事件時，「以後」意義近於「從此以後」，「以前」則義近「一直以來」。「以前」和「以後」的延伸雖以說話當下為起點出發，但延伸的同時卻也遠離了起點，「延伸」義導致「遠離」義，而「遠離」義又導出「遠距」義，搭配點狀事件或一次性事件時，「以前」和「以後」分別指離說話當下較遠的過去和較遠的未來。

由於距離為相對的概念，同樣的時間長度在不同類型的事件中或不同的說話者心中往往有不同的長短或遠近意義，再加上這些時間詞並不像某些在動詞時態上標記時間距離的語言有較為規範性的限制，因此本文所提的「遠」和「近」指的是一種相對的、原型的(prototype)解讀，所牽涉到的除了相對較為客觀的「概念內容」之外，也包含主觀的「識解」。

關鍵字

時間詞 ； 近義詞 ； 時間距離差異 ； 之前 ； 以前 ； 之後 ； 以後

並列摘要

This thesis a corpus-based study on the temporal distance distinction in two pairs of Mandarin Chinese near-synonymous temporal terms zhiqian/yiqian 'before' and zhihou/yihou 'after', with Cognitive Grammar as the descriptive framework.

Both pairs are found to occur in the attached form and in the bare form, as shown in the following examples.

(1) Attached form
a. [ta dadianhua-lai RP]zhiqian/yiqian [wo zai shuijiao TG]
'I was sleeping before he called.'
b. [ta dadianhua-lai RP]zhihou/yihou[wo jiu shui-bu-zhao-le TG]
'I couldn't fall asleep after he called.'
(2) Bare form
a. ta zhiqian/yiqian [lai-guo TG]
'He came here earlier/ He once came here.'
b. ta zhihou/yihou [hui lai TG]
'He will come later/ He will come in the future.'

In the attached form use, the four temporal terms are attached to a preceding element, which usually expresses a situation. This situation serves as a reference point (RP) with respect to which another situation, called target (TG), is sequenced in time (relative time reference). In the bare form use, there may or may not be an antecedent RP the previous context. Without an antecedent RP, the TG is located in the past or in the future with respect to the speech time (absolute time reference).

The two near-synonyms within each pair are basically equivalent and interchangeable in the attached form use. In the bare form use with the speech time as the reference time, however, two near-synonyms display the distinction of temporal distance: zhiqian and yiqian respectively locate a TG in the recent past and the distant past, whereas zhihou and yihou respectively do so in the near future and the far future.

Based on the corpus data, we argue that in the attached form use the temporal distance between the RP and the TG is determined by the temporal location of the RP and the temporal location of the TG, no matter which near-synonym is used to sequence the two situations. Meanwhile, the temporal distance between the two situations is often short. At the level of objective conceptual content, it is a usual concomitant that relevant situations tend to be temporally close. At the level of subjective construal, the RP and TG are the only two situations profiled within the onstage region (i.e., within a conceptualizer’s focal attention); with no intervening situations being profiled, the RP and the TG seem to happen in uninterrupted succession and are thus close to each other. These features account for the absence of temporal distance distinction in the attached form use.

The temporal distance distinction in the bare form use is attributed to the respective functions of zhi and yi. In a possessive relation profiled by the possessive marker zhi, the possessor and the possessed item tend to be close, especially for inalienable possession such as relational spatial concepts. Spatial proximity is inherited as temporal proximity between the RP and qian 'front' and hou 'back'. In the bare form use with the speech time as the reference time, temporal proximity associated with the possessive construction is still inherited despite the lack of a linguistically realized RP. As such, zhiqian locates a TG in the recent past and zhihou does so in the near future, both close to the speech time.

The function of yi is to mark an extension. It profiles the region covered starting form a certain starting point (i.e., a boundary) and extending towards a certain direction. The endpoint is usually not specified but can be inferred. The extension sense is surprised in the attached form by the short temporal distance between the RP and the TG. In the bare form use where the context does not suggest any RP, the extension sense of yi is freed. Yiqian and yihou respectively profile a temporal region extending from the speech time towards the direction of past and future. With a durative or repetitive TG, yiqian has the sense 'for a long time' whereas yihou means 'from now on'. On the other hand, as the extension proceeds it also departs from the speech time. The departure sense provides the basis for the remoteness sense. Thus, with a punctual or one-time TG, yiqian locates this TG in the distant past, whereas yihou locates it in the far future.

The concept of distance is a relative one. The same temporal distance may be conceptualized as short or long in different types of situation for different speakers, reflected in the choice of temporal term. A temporal term profiles a short distance and another profiles a long one in a relative, prototype sense, a combination of objective conceptual content and subjective construal.

並列關鍵字

temporal terms ； near-synonyms ； temporal distance distinction ； zhiqian ； yiqian ； zhihou ； yihou

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