Pluractionality and Mandarin Durative Adverbs

事件複數化及中文持續副詞

10.29695/FCJHSS.201112.0005

李鴻麟(Larry Hong-Lin Li)

單數 ； 複數 ； 事件複數化 ； 持續副詞 ； singular ； plural ； pluractionality ； durative adverbs

逢甲人文社會學報

23期（2011 / 12 / 01）

111 - 125

英文

中文持續副詞「一直」看起來是傳達了時間上無限的意義。但有趣的是，「一直」可以出現在傳達時間上有限意義的句子中。在本研究中，我們指出「一直」可以使單一事件複數化；換句話說，它可以由單一事件的指涉衍生出複數意涵。「一直」所具有的事件複數化語意解釋了它本身的句法分布。除了「一直」之外，持續副詞「不停的」及「不斷的」的語意特質和句法呈現也一併討論。本研究提供證據顯示事件複數化的機制也存在中文中。除此之外，本研究指出當我們在探究語言的句法面向時，語意層面是必須加以考慮的。

Mandarin Chinese durative adverb yizhi (一直) appears to impart a temporally unrestricted reading. Interestingly, yizhi can co-occur with sentences that convey a temporally limited meaning. In this study, we point out that yizhi serves to pluractionize an eventuality; in other words, it functions to derive a plural reading from a single state of affairs. The pluralizing nature of yizhi helps explain its syntactic distribution. Apart from yizhi, the semantic attributes and syntactic manifestation of durative adverbs butingde (不停的) and buduande (不斷的) are also brought into discussion. This study provides evidence that the mechanism of pluractionality exists in Mandarin Chinese just like other languages. Moreover, it implies that semantics must be taken into account when we explore the syntactic facets of language.

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