The Grammaticalizition Change

摘要：1912年，法國語言學家Antoine Meillet首先提出“語法化”這個詞，以概括語法化這種語言現象。從那時起，該理論激發了近代語法化研究的發展，西方語言學家針對這一語言現象進行了大量的研究。我國語言學家從20世紀80年代開始對這一理論進行研究，并將這一理論與漢語中的實詞虛化相結合，取得了巨大的成果。本文旨在運用語法化理論對漢語助詞“的”的語法化過程進行分析，以揭示這種語言現象背后的規律，進而彰顯語法化理論的普適性。

Abstract：This paper focused on an analysis of the grammaticalizaiton of the Chinese particles “de (的)”， with an aim to find out the regularities behind the linguistic phenomenon and ultimately to testify the universality of the grammaticalization theory.

關鍵詞：語法化；漢語助詞“的”；發展趨勢

Key words：Grammaticalization; Chinese particles “de (的)” ; tendencies

作者簡介：馮然然（1988-），女，漢族，重慶人，現就讀于西南大學外國語院。主要研究方向：功能語言學。

[中圖分類號]：H0[文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-07-0128-02

1、Introduction

Grammaticalization is an old notion which has been mentioned and discussed in many works by historical linguists for several centuries. In fact， the linguistic phenomenon which is now discussed under the notion of grammaticalization was first noticed in China as early as the 13th century. Zhou Boqi， a scholar of the Yuan Dynasty， mentioned this concept in his book Liu Shu Zheng Wei (《六書正偽》): “Most of the words invented by ancient people come from concrete objects while function words of present days come from content words.” (as cited in Shen Jiaxuan， 1994:17)However， the term “Grammaticalization” was first coined by the French linguist Antoine Meillet in his paper “L'evolution des Formad Grammaticales” published in 1912. To date， this notion has drawn a lot of attention from many linguists at home and abroad (e.g. Heine， Claudi， Hunnemeyer， 1991; Bybee， 1994; Hopper Traugott， 1991; Shen Jiaxuan， 1994; Hu Zhuanglin， 2003). The theory of grammaticalization helps to provide a totally fresh angel to consider the linguistic phenomena. It also provides a new and meaningful way to explore the significance of language change.

Grammaticalization is a usual linguistic phenomenon in every language. According to Heine， Claudi and Hunnmeyer (1991)， grammaticalization is actually a process where a lexical unit assumes a grammatical function or a grammatical unit assumes a more grammatical function through time. In recent years， many Chinese scholars have studied grammaticalization in the Chinese language. Those scholars have applied the western linguistic theories to the linguistic researches of the Chinese language.

This paper focuses on the Chinese particle \"De (的)\". As the particle， De (的) is one of the most frequently used words in both ancient and modern Chinese. So it is taken as a good example in the current research project.

2、The grammaticalization of the Chinese particle “De (的)”

Although different Chinese linguists hold different opinions towards the origin of structure particle “de (的)”， they generally agreed that “de (的)” is derived from “di (底)”. The previous opinions about the origin of “di (底)” we discussed in Chapter 2 above can be divided into two categories: First， “di (底)” derived from “zhi (之)” or “zhe (者)”; Second， “di (底)” derived from the demonstrative pronoun “di (底)”.

However， we doubt it from the following three aspects: First， the sound of “di (底)” and “zhe (者)’ are different. Second， “de (的)” in “熱水的” and “熱的” are almost the same. Therefore， the opinion that “de (的)” is derived from “zhi (之)” and “zhe (者)” is not persuasive. Third， “你的” and “誰的” cannot be translated into ancient Chinese “汝者” and “誰者”.

Therefore， we generally agree with the opinion of Jiang Lansheng (1999) that the structural auxiliary word “di (底)” comes from locality noun “di (底)”.

Jiang Lansheng (1999) pointed out that “suo (所)” and “xu (許)” which are locality nouns could be used as structural auxiliary words in the literature of the Wei， Jin， Southern and Northern Dynasties. Generally speaking， before the Tang Dynasty， “zhi (之)”， “zhe (者)”， ”suo (所) ” and ”xu (許)” can all be used as structural auxiliary words. “suo (所)” and “xu (許)” were content words meaning locality. However， they are grammaticalized into structural particles via grammticalization. So this provided support for our opinion that the structural auxiliary word “di (底)” is derived from the locality noun “di (底)”. Chu Zexiang (2002) found the evidence that the structural auxiliary word “di (底)” is derived from the locality noun “di (底)”. In the Yuexi Dialect， there are still some examples that demonstrate the theory， such as “碗底菜”， “缸底水”， “袋底米”， “箱子底鎖” and “柜子底門”.

2.1、The original meaning of “di (底)”

According to Jiang Lansheng (1999)， “di (底)” as a locality noun means the bottom of an object. It also means “down， below， descend”. Many examples can be identified in Shuo Wen Jie Zi (《說文解字》:

(1) 實為無底之谷 (《列子·湯問》)

(2) 則言黃泉之底 (《淮南子》)

2.2、Early usage of “di (底)” as an auxiliary word

In the Sui and Dang Dynasties， “di (底)” appeared as an auxiliary word and its grammatical function developed quickly. Among the grammatical forms which are derived from content words， their early usages still retain some of the original meanings. The earliest “di (底)” as the auxiliary word is in the “noun or pronoun + di” structure in the Tang Dynasty:

(3) 崔涕之為中書令，河東公張嘉貞為舍人，涕輕之，常呼為‘張底’. 后商量數事，意皆出人右，涕驚久美之，謂同官曰：‘知無？張底乃我輩一般人此終是其坐處’…… (《隋唐嘉話·下》)

In this sentence， “zhang + di” means the person whose surname is Zhang. Here， “di (底)” is an auxiliary word.

2.3、The reanalysis of “di (底)”

As discussed before， there is the “noun + di + noun” structure where the locality noun is in the position of a structural auxiliary word. The context provides the opportunities for reanalyzing the locality noun into a structural auxiliary word. For example:

(4) 閑得枕屏風上，不如畫底鴛鴦。 (《朝中措》 王武子)

In this sentence， the meaning of “Huadi Yuanyang (畫底鴛鴦)” is ambiguous. It could mean the mandarin ducks in the picture where “di (底)” is a locality noun. Also it could mean the painted mandarin ducks where “di (底)” is an auxiliary word. Therefore， there is possibility for the locality noun “di (底)” to grammticalize into a structural auxiliary word “di (底)”.

2.4、The analogy of “di (底)”

In the literature of the late Tang Dynasty， “di (底)” as a structural auxiliary word appeared quite often. The structure of “di (底)” became various. Besides the structure of “noun + di”， there were also structures like “adjective + di”， “verb + di”， “noun + di + noun”， “adjective + di +noun”， “verb + di +noun”. “di (底)” had all the grammatical functions of the auxiliary word “zhe (者)” at that time. “di (底)” as an auxiliary word developed so quickly that it ultimately replaced the other auxiliary words like “zhi (之)” and “zhe (者)”.

As we have discussed before， locality nouns “suo (所)” and “xu (許)” were used as auxiliary words at first. “di (底)” was also used as a content word where it could be understood as an auxiliary word. Because of reanalysis， it had the grammatical functions which it did have as a content word. Then， as a result of analogy， it began to be extended to contexts where it was not previously admissible. The old auxiliary words like “zhi (之)” and “zhe (者)” began to be used only in formal written language. In this period， however， spoken language and written language began to separate. Classical words began to decrease and colloquial words began to increase. As a new colloquial word， “di (底)” finally replaced the old classical words.

3、Conclusion

The purpose of this paper is not to come to a specific conclusion. We aim for describing the grammaticalization of the particle “De(的)”. We hope that this paper can arouse people’s interest in this kind of linguistic phenomenon， trigger heated discussion on it and encourage people to break the established rules to make deeper research in languages.

Our investigation is significant and meaningful. The Western linguistic theories are applied to the study of the grammaticalization in Chinese， with an aim to prove that western linguistic theories can indeed be used to investigate the Chinese language issues. Considering the vastness of the Chinese language， we think that there are still a lot of other Chinese function words the grammaticalization of which is worthy of further investigation.

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