「畢」「竟」與「畢竟」的語法化探究

The Grammaticalization of Bì畢, Jìng竟, Bìjìng畢竟

動詞「畢」側重整個儀式、活動的逐一完成，強調數量完備；「竟」包括空間域與時間域的過程及終點；「畢竟」則是時間域的完成。三者動詞義的差別，連帶影響發展為副詞的用法。副詞「畢」用法單一，表總括；「竟」功能多樣，有範圍副詞（表總括、限定）、時間副詞（表最終、始終）、語氣副詞（表確實、究竟、超乎預期、悖反預期）、情狀副詞（表直接）；「畢竟」有時間副詞（表最終）、語氣副詞（表確實、究竟）。觀察「畢」、「竟」、「畢竟」三者的語法化，「畢竟」的演變模式與「竟」關聯性較大。其中，「竟」與「畢竟」由完成動詞到時間副詞（表最終）、語氣副詞（表確實、究竟）的語法化，呈顯平行虛化。「畢」、「竟」由完成動詞演變為總括副詞，語氣副詞「竟」、「畢竟」由確實義發展出究竟義，具語言普遍性，反映語法化的通則現象。表反預期的副詞「竟」有超乎預期與悖反預期兩類，分別在進一步跨度的遞進關係中，由確實義發展出超乎預期；在不相容關係的轉折語境中，由最終義發展出表悖反預期。觀察完成動詞到副詞的語法化，似乎只有「竟」發展出反預期用法。相較其他完成動詞，此種演變路徑可視為語法化的變異。

The verb bi 畢 focuses on the step-by-step completion of a whole ceremony or activity, emphasizing completeness in respect of quantity; jing 竟, as a verb, includes both the process and the telos in the domains of space and time; and the verb bijing 畢竟 indicates completion within the time domain. The different verbal meanings among these three words have bearing on their adverbial usages respectively, all of which developed at a later time. As adverbs, bi has a unitary usage, denoting universal quantification (henceforth UQ); jing is versatile in its function, such as being a scope adverb (indicating UQ or delimitation), temporal adverb (denoting “finally” or “all the time”), modal adverb (standing for “indeed,” “on earth,” or beyond/against expectation), and manner adverb (denoting “directly”); and bijing has two functions, viz. a temporal adverb (indicating “finally”) and modal adverb (denoting “indeed” or “on earth”). Observing the grammaticalization of the three words, we find that the evolving pattern of bijing is more related to that of jing. Both jing and bijing evolved from completing (accomplishment) verbs to temporal adverbs (standing for “finally”) as well as modal adverbs (denoting “indeed” or “on earth”), thereby showing the phenomenon of parallel grammaticalization. Bi and jing developed from completing verbs to adverbs of UQ, and the modal adverbs jing and bijing have further evolved from the “indeed” sense to the “on earth” sense. There is linguistics universality within such processes, in which some generalization of grammaticalization is reflected. Jing, an adverb of counter-expectation, has two meanings that have evolved separately, specifically beyond expectation and against expectation. Within an additive context, which means “to get further onwards,” the “indeed” sense has developed into a sense of beyond-expectation; in an adversative context, which means “to be incompatible,” the “finally” sense has evolved into a sense of against-expectation. Among these courses of grammaticalization, it seems that only jing has developed a usage of counter-expectation. This kind of evolving pathway, in contrast to other completing verbs, can be regarded as a deviation in grammaticalization.