英语IT非人称构式中主语的认知语义研究

A Cognitive Semantic Study on the Subject in English It-Impersonals

阿沙尔(Achard,2015:66)认为,主语“it”的句法作用和意义是解释英语IT非人称构式的关键,但关于该主语的讨论却莫衷一是,既没有说清楚其意义到底是什么,也没有明确其意义是如何产生的。以往的研究表明,代词“it”存在三种不同的意义,即道具、预指和指称。弗雷格(Frege,1884)认为,语言结构的意义来自其构成成分及其构成方式,研究IT非人称构式的形成过程发现,生成语言学存在移位、基础产生、合并产生三种说法;基于兰盖克(Langacker)的自主-依存联结理论的分析则发现,在IT非人称构式的组配过程中存在三种不同的解释可能,因此本文认为,非人称构式中主语“it”的意义是由其认知组配方式造成的,它既有功能性的作用,也具有实体性的意义,是一个由虚指到实指、由宽泛到具体的连续统,其消显施事的特征弱化了概念化者的介入程度,从而强化了构式中述谓结构的评价功能及其普遍的可接受性。

Achard(2015:66)regards it pivotal to interpret the subject it in the construal of English it-impersonals.However,scholars are controversial about the essential meanings of the subject it and the way it is generated.Previous studies reveal that the pronoun it has three different meanings,i.e.prop it,anticipatory it,and referential it.Frege(1884)claims that the meaning of a construction derives from its constituents and the way they are combined.The exploration into the process of the generation of it-impersonals shows that there are three approaches(NP movement,base generating,and merging)in generative linguistics,and the analysis based on Langacker s autonomy-dependence alignment also arrives in a similar vein.Therefore,we claim that the meaning of the subject of it-impersonals is formed in terms of its way of assembling which has not merely the functional implication but also the signification as an entity.It is a continuum ranging from expletive to referential,(and)from diffuse to concrete.The defocusing on the agentivity of the subject it relegates the engagement of its conceptualizers,thus strengthening the universal acceptability of the assessment of the predation thereof.