“使”字句事件结构的语义分析

A Semantic Analysis of Event Structure of Shi-construction

"使"字句的事件结构由表致使关系的和表描述结果的两个原子事件组成。前一个事件中的谓词"使"不但决定了该事件的致使性质,而且使得"使"字句的整个句式表示的是致使性质的事件结构。"使"字在事件结构中可以有颗粒度或粗或细两种描写方式,前者强调对"使"字语义的概括性,后者突出"使"字的词汇特征。实际书面语语料中出现的"使"字句可归纳为两种基本句法格式,但是这两种格式可以在语义上一致性处理为表致使的事件结构。"使得"句可以看做是"使"字句的变体形式,因此,"使"字句事件结构的描写方式也适用于"使得"句的情况。运用新戴维森分析法来描写"使"字句的事件结构,不仅能够准确、规范地刻画出"使"字语义内容及整个"使"字句的句式语义,而且丰富了传统逻辑描写自然语言的手段。

The event structure of shi-construction consists of two atomic events, one manifesting a causative relation and the other illustrating the result triggered by the preceding event. Serving as the predicate of the first atomic event, the property of shi presupposes the causative nature of the event, which percolates the entire shi-construction. Shi in shi-construction can be analyzed with either a coarse-grained account or a fine-grained account, the former emphasizing shi＇s universal semantic nature, while the latter highlighting its lexical features. The data collected in the written language demonstrate that shi-construction can be grouped into two syntactic patterns, which, semantically, can be treated as a generalized causative event structure. As a sub-type of shi-construction, shide-construction shares the same event structure as shi-construction. The application of the neo-Davidsonian approach in the analysis of the event structure of shi-construction can secure precise and standard semantic information of both shi itself and shi-construction, and offer more practical techniques to describe natural languages than classical logic does.