祈使語氣助詞「者」的形成及其歷史演變

The Formation of the Imperative Modal Particle Zhe (者) and its Historical Development

本文認為祈使語氣助詞「者」來自決定語氣「者」，肇端於說話者行使指令行為時，心中已有所認定，祈使聽話者做某事或不做某事。這種認定與決定語氣息息相關，整個語法化過程，由出現於判斷句末「者」表論斷的決定語氣，擴及敘述句中表申明、昭告的決定語氣，進而產生祈使語氣。比較表祈使語氣的「者」與「著」、「咱」所傳達的語氣強度，由重到輕依序是：「著」＞「者」＞「咱」。元代「者」比「著」使用頻繁，取決於以「者」對譯蒙古語動詞祈使式附加成分；明代時蒙式漢語不流行，「著」隨之比「者」常見。二者的消長是受到政治因素影響。

This article considers that the imperative modal particle zhe (者) came from the decisive modal particle zhe. In the beginning, whenever the speaker executes a commanding action, there would be some acknowledgment in his mind, in which the hearer should (or should not) do something, and this acknowledgment is highly related to the decisive mood. The grammaticalization process should be like this: originally, the decisive modal particle zhe occurs at the end of copular sentences, then the particle extends itself to the end of the declarative sentences, which declares or announces something, and hereafter appears the imperative modal particle zhe. Comparing zhe with zhe (著) and zá (咱), the modality intensity can be ordered, from heavy to light, as zhe ＞ zhe ＞ zá. In Yuan dynasty, zhe was more frequently used than zhe, and this is because the appended element in Mongolian imperative verbal construction was often translated with zhe. The Mongolian-style Chinese was out of fashion in Ming dynasty, so zhe became more frequently seen than zhe. The growth and decline of these two particles were influenced by political factors.