先秦主謂間的助詞「之」的分布與演變

The Distribution and Development of the Nominalizer ZHI in the Pre-Qin Period

本文對先秦主謂結構間的助詞「之」作了多方的探討，包括它的區辨、功能、刪略條件、演變過程以及演變原因。本文主要的結論是「之」在戰國末年已有相當幅度的縮減，到了西漢，更是急速下降。特別是就作賓句的主謂結構而言，「之」的使用率恐已不及先秦的十分之一。我們又根據以敘事體為主的語料所顯示的，推斷賓句中的「之」在西漢時可能就已從口語中消失了。本文還指出，「之」的衰微至少涉及兩項因素：一是它的非必用性，一是它功能上的不足。前者指的是：「之」刪略條件相當複雜，隨著語言結構的調整，就使得後人終於難以掌握先秦「之」的使用規則而加以重新分析甚或忽略掉；後者指的是：「之」在辨義上的模糊易造成歧義，而且它也不能用於連結無主語的動詞組，使得其他的連詞有充分的理由來接替它的地位。

The so-called nominalizer zhi, the function of which is still debatable, refers to a particle placed between subject and predicate forming a subordinate or embedded clause in the Pre-Qin period. It was known to be used frequently in the Pre-Qin period, but disappeared later in the stream of history. In this research, we investigated zhi from perspectives as follows: the distinction between the nominalizer zhi and other particles zhi, the grammatical function of zhi, the conditions on zhi's deletion, and the process and mechanisms of zhi's decline. The main conclusion is that the frequency of zhi decreased remarkably in the late Warring States period, and fell violently in the Western Han Dynasty. Through investigation on narrative documents of Old Chinese, we believe that the zhi in embedded clause could have been withdrawn from the colloquial language in the Western Han Dynasty. Another observation in this paper is that two motivations originally existed in the Pre-Qin period which may be responsible for zhi 's decline: the first is that zhi is arbitrary under certain conditions; the second is that zhi is functionally deficient. The former says that the conditions for zhi 's deletion, which were complex in the Pre-Qin period, were difficult for the people in the Western Han Dynasty to grasp when the construction of the language was in a state of fluctuation, subsequently, the rule was re-analyzed, and zhi was more easily to be deleted; the latter says that zhi's functional ambiguity, the functions of which correspond to functions of several conjunctions, together with its inability of nominalizing a clause without the appearance of a subject, make a good reason for zhi to give way to other conjunctions.