藏缅语名词性别意义的表达方式

Gender Resolutions in Tibeto-Burman Languages

藏缅语名词性别意义主要有三种表达方式:普通名词、性别名词和性别词缀(包括前缀和后缀)。从比较结果看,性别名词、性别前缀、性别后缀的语义虚实程度依次渐弱;在词序演变上,现阶段大多数藏缅语已完成了从"性别名词+名词词根"到"名词词根+性别后缀"的演变。每一种藏缅语都有性别后缀,但数量不等,反映出语法化程度的差异。语言类型的特点、名词的语义特征、语言使用者的认知特点对不同表达方式的使用具有制约作用。

There are three ways to express gender in Tibeto-Burman languages： common nouns,gender nouns and gender affix including prefix and suffix.From gender noun to gender prefix to gender suffix,the content meaning becomes weaker and weaker.At current stage,most Tibeto-Burman languages have completed the change from ＇gender ＋ noun root＇ to ＇noun root ＋ gender suffix＇.Each Tibeto-Burman language has gender suffix,but the quantity is different,which reflects the degree of grammaticalization.The selection and use of different expressions are conditioned by the characteristics of language type,the semantic feature of nouns and the cognitive characteristics of language users.