《世說新語》文篇析論

An Analysis of Shishuo Xinyu’s Discourses

本文析論《世說新語》的語言與修辭特色。《世說新語》是漢代文言和白話分離後的作品，文白雜揉，公認是最早的「志人小說」，堪稱超越史傳敘事文的里程碑。它保存上古到中古漢語歷史流變的線索，同時為中古時期梵漢語言接觸問題提供重要證據。文篇是語言學和文學邊界的單位，本文分析文篇中的文言與白話的成分，梳理最佔優勢的小句合成模式及其背後的思考脈絡，提出翻譯佛經特徵移入文篇的證據，最後以《左傳》為參照，揭示記敘事件與描寫人物的若干創新之處。這項研究可望拓展漢語語法史研究視野，也為古典敘事散文研究帶來效益。

The present study analyzes the grammatical and rhetorical characteristics of Shishuo xinyu (世說新語 A New Account of Tales of the World). Dating from the period after the separation of the literary Chinese and vernacular traditions, Shishuo xinyu incorporates elements of both. It is generally acknowledged as the earliest collection of biographical anecdotes in the history of Chinese literature, and is regarded as surpassing the traditional historical biography. It preserves traces of the shift from pre-Qin Chinese to Medieval Chinese, while also providing evidence of the impact Sanskrit had on the grammar of Medieval Chinese. This study analyzes the literary and vernacular components of Shishuo xinyu’s discourses, investigates the predominant clause complex model and the thinking behind it, and provides evidence of how a specific Sanskrit grammatical feature found in Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures was carried over into Chinese narrative discourses. Finally, by comparing Shishuo xinyu with discourses from the Zuozhuan 左傳, this study demonstrates several rhetorical innovations in the former’s narrative and descriptive techniques. This research demonstrates the vital role of discourse analysis in Chinese linguistic and literary history research.