先秦「矣」的功能及其分化

The Functions of 矣 yi and its Semantic Extensions in Pre-Qin Chinese

「矣」是先秦很重要的句末助詞。以往學者認為它表示「語氣」(mood) ， Pulleyblank (1994) 認為它是「體態」(aspect) 標記。本文認為「矣」兼有這兩方面的功能，它的多功能表現是源自語義引申，可能涉及的引申機制包括 Sweetser (1990) 所說「語義結構的隱喻」(metaphor of semantic structure) 和Traugott (1989) 提出的「主觀化」(subjectification)。Lyons (1995) 主張體態和語氣都賦有「言說主觀性」(subjectivity of utterance)，這可以和「矣」兼容兩種功能的事實相互印證。

矣 yi is a sentence-final particle of declarative sentences in pre-Qin Chinese; its grammatical functions, however, are still a matter of debate. Traditional grammarians tend to treat it as a marker of mood, while, on the other hand, Pulleyblank (1994) insists that it is simply a marker of perfect aspect. In this paper, the author suggests that yi is possessed of both functions, resulting from semantic extensions in which the mechanisms of “metaphor of semantic structure” proposed by Sweetser (1990) and “subjectification” proposed by Traugott (1989) are involved. Lyons (1995) claims that tense, aspect, mood, and modality share the property of “subjectivity of utterance”; yi in pre-Qin Chinese supports this claim.