也说意外的本质——从典型意外标记“竟然”说起

Rethinking the Essence of Mirativity——Starting from the Typical Mirativity Marker Jìngrán“Unexpected”

《意外的本质》(Aikhenvald 2012)一文将意外意义概括为突然发现、惊讶、猝不及防、反预期、新信息五种。由于界限不清、标准不明,意义之间无法有效区分,受到学者们的批评。而且,该文也没有解决为什么意外有如此多的意义、这些意义源于哪里、它们之间的关系如何、为什么事实和预期相符/相反有时可以造成意外而有时却不能等问题。文章通过分析典型意外标记“竟然”的语义结构文发现,意外本质上是一个大概率不可能事件。只要发生了大概率不可能事件,就可以造成意外;只要造成了意外的理解,就一定发生过大概率不可能事件。利用大概率不可能事件,可以对上述问题做出统一的解释。

In the paper entitled“the Essence of Mirativity”,Aikhenvald(2012)summarizes the mirativity meaning into five categories:(i)sudden discovery,sudden revelation or realization;(ii)surprise;(iii)unprepared mind;(iv)counter expectation;(v)information new.Due to the unclear standard of classification,it is impossible to distinguish them from one to another,which has been criticized by scholars.Moreover,Aikhenvald(2012)cannot answer many basic questions on mirativity,e.g.,why the mirativity has so many different meanings,where these meanings come from,what is the relationship among them,why counter⁃expectations cannot always lead to mirativity,etc.By analyzing the semantic structure of the typical mirativity marker jìngrán“unexpected”,we find that mirativity expresses essentially an event of a high⁃probability of impossibility.That is to say,as long as there exists an event of a high⁃probability of impossibility,it can certainly cause mirativity.In other words,as long as there is an understanding of mirativity,an event of a high⁃probability of impossibility must have occurred.This paper shows the problems of Aikhenvald(2012)mentioned above can be solved with the idea of the high⁃probability of impossibility of events.