論現代漢語補語可能構式

On Mandarin Potential Complement Constructions

本文旨在從構式語法的角度重新探討漢語以「結果語」為主之補語可能構式的類型，並定義出各類「補語可能構式」的結構、語義以及其組成成分之間的選擇限制。本文以構式語法為基礎，輔以語料庫的實際語料分析與「頻率」統計，找出補語可能構式的基礎中心句式義與多義連結。研究結果發現補語可能構式可分為兩大類：「目標達成補語可能構式」表達「施事執行動作達成目標的可能性」，此構式的語義選擇限制主要是「施事的自願性」與「論元的意外結果限制性」。「中動補語可能構式」的主要意義為表達「對象的固有特質」，此特質會影響動作的結果。

In this paper, we adopt the framework of Construction Grammar (CG) to discuss the potential complement (PC) constructions, and investigate the types, structures, meanings, and semantic constraints of PC constructions in Mandarin. Taking a corpus-based approach and taking type/token frequency into consideration, we claim that the central meaning of the PC is “GOAL-achieving”. The results show that there are two kinds of PC constructions. One is “GOAL-achieving” PC construction, which expresses “the potential of achieving the goal by carrying out the action”. The other subtypes of PC constructions are related to the main type via polysemous or instance links. The semantic constraints of the construction include “volitionality of the agent” and “predictability of result”. The other kind of PC construction is “MIDDLE-type” (Adjectival) PC construction, which describes the trait of the theme, the trait that is responsible for the result of the action.