從顯著理論看中國親屬稱謂

THE MARKING ASPECTS OF CHINESE KINSHIP TERMS

語言學的顯著理論（marking theory）應用於中國親屬稱謂的分析，可從下列幾方面來看：（1）語形結構上，每一稱謂可視為由一個核心詞素或一個較短列的稱謂加上詞頭和（或）詞尾所構成，這些語形標記使得某些稱謂間構成一個形式上的顯著。（2）語意上，加上一個詞頭或詞尾均造成原稱謂意義上的轉變，譬如距離己身二輩變為二輩以上，父系變為非父系，血親變為姻親，直系變為旁系，同胞變為堂表兄弟姐妹，卑輩男性變為卑輩女性，這些都是中國親屬稱謂裏的語意顯著原則。（3）基本上，非顯著的稱謂較與其相對應的顯著稱謂，語形上較簡單，所指涉的親屬較有心理上的親密性，因此較容易學習。綜合上述幾方面，筆者認為親屬稱謂基本上是語言現象，可以用語言學的觀念來分析。親屬稱謂當中，雖然不乏社會結構原則的影響，但心理因素的作用亦不可忽略。

This paper provides a perspective on Chinese kin terms from the point of view of linguistic marking theory. Each term can be viewed as a shorter string added by a prefix or a suffix. The addition of a morphological feature constitutes a formal marking between one term and another. There are five marking principles found in Chinese kin terms. (1) Terms for three or more generations from ego are marked by the addition of tseng (曾), kao (高), or hsuan (玄) as against terms for two generations from ego which are unmarked. (2) Non-patrilineal kin are marked by the addition of wai (外) as against patrilineal kin which are unmarked. (3) Affinal kin are marked by the addition of nei (內) , chiu (舅),i (姨),fu (父), mu (母), fu (夫), fu (婦), or hsu (婿) as against consanguineal kin which are unmarked. (4) Collateral kin are marked by the addition of po (伯), shu (叔), ku (姑), chiu (舅), i (姨), chih (姪) , or wai-sheng (外甥) as against lineal kin which are unmarked. (5) Cousins are marked by the addition of t'ang (堂), tsai-ts'ung (再從),tsu (族), ku-piao (姑表), chiu-piao (舅表),or i-piao (姨表) as against siblings which are unmarked. (6) Female descendants are marked by the addition of nu (女）as against male descendants which are unmarked. Marking is a cognitive principle which emphasizes certain categories of relationships that are biologically and socially close to ego. For such categories, the terms are designed to be morphologically less complex and semantically more straightforward. It is at this point that the author argues that kinship terminology is an expression of psychology as Kroeber has claimed long time ago. However, the author also reserves room for the influence of social structure upon kinship terminology.