DUAL FUNCTION OF LIAH(8) (sic) IN LI JING JI

作者：Lien Chinfa^*

来源：Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 2010, 38(1): 45-69.

• grammaticalization
• chronological strata
• co-existence
• competition
• Southern Min

This paper explores the dual function of liah(8) (sic) as verb and preposition in Li Jing Ji (sic), a Romance of the Litchi Mirror, featuring Southern Min in the sixteenth century. (sic) as the etymologically viable character meaning 'hold' in lieu of the demotic character)7 dates back as early as the third century AD. Given unidirectionality in grammatical change from lexeme to function word, the frozen-in-time co-existence of liah(8) (sic) as verb (23 percent), verb/preposition (19 percent) and preposition (58 percent) points to grammaticalization that had been well underway but had not been consummated by the middle of sixteenth century. In contrast, chiong(1) (sic) had shed its verbal function, proceeded to the intermediate stage, and taken on the role of preposition. Southern Min is rich in chronological strata either phonologically and syntactically. Liah(8) (sic) and chiong(1) (sic) belong in different chronological strata and follow separate routes of grammaticalization. Nevertheless, they converged in the same synchronic state, and their paths partially crossed resulting in a co-existential and even competitive situation.

• 出版日期2010-1
• 单位清华大学