現代漢語選擇問句法的來源

THE ORIGIN OF THE DISJUNCTIVE QUESTION IN MODERN CHINESE

1.本文打算討論漢語選擇問句法從五世紀到十二世紀的歷史，主要結論是現代選擇問的句法在五世紀已經成型，以後發生若干詞滙的變化，在十二世紀產生「…是…還是」這類現代選擇問的句子。現在先談古代和現代句法的不同。

The disjunctive question (DQ) in Modern Chinese is characterized by three features. (1) The forms 是 shih and 還是 hai. shih serve as the DQ-marker. The copula shih is identical with one of these markers, and is a constituent of the other. (2) A Modern DQ may use a single marker or a pair of markers; it can also dispense with it altogether. In contrast, the DQ-markers of Old Chinese and Han Chinese cannot occur twice in a disjunctive question. (3) The DQ of Old Chinese and Han Chinese almost always ends in an interrogative particle, e. g., 乎 hu, 邪 yeh, or 與 yü. The Modern DQ does not follow this rule. The interrogative particle 嗎, 麼 .ma does not occur in a Modern DQ, and the forms which do occur, such as 啊 .a or 呢 .ne, are not interrogative particles.