漢語被字句與回指中心過渡關係的研究

A Study on the Influence of Chinese Passives on Center Transitions in Discourse

本文在向心理論框架下，對漢語含被字語句語篇的回指中心結構進行了考察，指出被字賓語位置上始終存在一個顯性或零形式的賓語。語篇上，帶顯性∕零形被賓的被字語句都具有維繫回指中心延續、進而保持語篇連貫性的功能；此外，顯性和零形被賓都可以作為回指中心，完成與上一語句的中心保持過渡，同時，零形被賓，和顯性被賓一樣，也可以充當隨後語句中代詞的先行語，起到承前啟後的作用。二者的差異在於，前者為隨後語句提供可能的回指中心，而後者只起到連接語句、保持信息流流暢的作用。本文試圖以此為長短被動句關係的「省略說」提供篇章上的佐證。

This article argues that the agent position of bei must be occupied by a syntactic entity─overt or covert─by examining the backward-looking centers (Cb) and center transitions in Chinese discourse segments containing bei-utterances using Centering Theory. We show that discourse segments with overt or zero objects of bei all prefer center continuation, that both types of objects can function as the backward center so as to maintain discourse coherence, and that they both can function as the antecedent of a pronoun in the subsequent clause. Their difference lies only in the fact that an overt object of bei may provide a possible Cb for the following utterance, while the role of a zero object is only to maintain center continuation, hence keep the fluency of the information flow in question. With this data analysis, we aim to support the traditional ‘Ellipsis Approach’ regarding long and short passives, namely that both long and short passives have the same syntactic structure─with a syntactic bei object, and their difference only lies in their different roles in discourse.