Reconstructing Early Dialectal Grammar

Abstract

Talmy（1985, 2000b） classifies languages into verb-framed and satellite-framed languages based on whether path is expressed in the main verb or in the satellite. The former denotes path in the main verb while the latter specifies path in the satellite. This study shows that modern Cantonese and Mandarin tend to express path in the satellite, and specifically in the directional complement. Scholars suggest that Chinese has undergone a typological shift from a verb-framed language to a satellite- framed language and the shift was completed at around the tenth century. However, this study finds that the change has not been completed and it is faster in some dialects and in some types of motion events than the others. Moreover, by studying materials compiled in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Cantonese and Mandarin, this study observes that early Cantonese and Mandarin tend to use directional verbs to denote path when their modern counterparts opt for the use of directional complements. This study further proposes that disyllabicization is an important factor underlying the typological shift. Last, this study undertakes a quantitative approach to examine the expression of path in materials of different nature in modern Cantonese and Mandarin. The statistical result illustrates that written materials reflect as much the linguistic reality as spoken language. (This article is in Chinese.) 提要 按照在位移事件中，路徑由動詞還是衛星表達，Talmy（1985, 2000b）把語言分成動詞框架和衛星框架語言。前者用動詞表達路徑，後者用衛星成分表達。本文通過定量統計，說明現代粵語和現代官話傾向用衛星成分，即趨向補語，表達路徑。有學者認為漢語從古到今經歷了由動詞框架語言到衛星框架語言的類型轉變。這個類型轉變在十世紀左右完成。但是，我們發現這個類型轉變在不同位移事件和不同方言中的進程都不一樣。同時，通過考察十九世紀、二十世紀初編寫的早期粵語和早期官話材料，我們發現兩個早期方言比現在更傾向用動詞表達路徑，更接近動詞框架語言。我們進一步指出這個類型轉變的動因跟雙音節化有關。最後，本文對現代粵語和現代官話在不同性質的材料中表達路徑的方式進行定量考察。統計結果說明書面材料跟口語材料同樣反映語言的實際使用情況。