读赵元任讲“了”——纪念赵元任诞辰130周年  

Thoughts on Chao Yuen Ren's discussions of le(了)

作　　者：沈家煊[1] 王伟[1] SHEN Jiaxuan;WANG Wei

机构地区：[1]中国社会科学院语言研究所,北京

出　　处：《中国语文》2023年第6期643-657,766,共16页Studies of the Chinese Language

摘　　要：赵元任(1926)和Chao(1968)对“了”的描写围绕“一种‘了’当多种用法”。本文重在分析和说明多种用法的内在联系,揭示这种内在联系背后的“汉语的造句之道”:1)汉语主语的语法意义就是话题,“主语-谓语”的关系就是“话题-说明”的关系;2)汉语以零句和流水句为本,不像西方语言以单句和复句为本;3)汉语的动词既表示行为动作又表示情形事相,动静叠加,而且以静为本;4)汉语用指明和肯定一个事实的方式来陈述一个事件,所谓“叙述过去”,就是对过去一个个事实的肯定。统一的“了”其性质可以概括为:说话人在当下有意用来指明一种情况的“现而在”。“了”的用法和性质反映中国人的时间观侧重于以下三个方面:1)“过去-现在-将来”不定格;2)“起始-进行-完结”不分割;3)时间不脱离空间。Chao(1926)and Chao(1968)'s analyses ofle(了)depict“one unitarylewith multiple functions”.The present paper tries to find out the internal relations between these multiple functions and to reveal how sentences can be constructed in Chinese.First of all,grammatically,the subject is the topic,and subject-predicate is in fact topiccomment.Secondly,the construction of Chinese sentences is based on“minor sentences(零句)”and“flowing sentences(流水句)”rather than simple sentences and compound sentences as in western languages.Thirdly,Chinese verbs not only express actions or events but also describe states of affairs which is more significant.Fourthly,declarative sentences in Chinese are assertions in disguise.Hence,the features of this unitarylemay be characterized as“used intentionally by the speaker to indicate the presence of a situation”.Such feature oflereflects the Chinese view of time,i.e.1)Past-present-future are not clearly separated;2)The beginning,progress and end of an event/state are not divided;3)Time is not independent of space.

关 键 词：赵元任 “了”的用法 内在联系 “了”的性质 时间观 

分 类 号：H146[语言文字—汉语]