“差点儿”和“差不多”的意义同异之辨

Differences between Chadianr(nearly) and Chabuduo(almost)

本文考察了"差点儿"和"差不多"中所含的隐性否定的语义层次,比较了这两个副词在语义结构诸层面(断言、推论、预设、情态)上的同异,得出结论:(i)"差不多VP"和"差点儿VP"的预设意义相同,都是"接近VP";(ii)"差点儿VP"的推演意义是"没有VP",断言意义是其预设和推演的合取;整个格式的语义区间由预设标定下限,由推演标定上限;(iii)"差不多VP"的推演意义是"不一定正好是VP"(包括:"没有达到VP"、"超过了VP"、"正好是VP"),断言意义也是其预设和推演的合取;(iv)"差点儿VP"表示道义情态(庆幸/遗憾),"差不多VP"表示认识情态(不确信/委婉)。

This paper examines the semantic level of the implicit negation contained in the ad- verbs chadianr （nearly） and chabuduo （almost）, and compares the semantic similarities and differ- ences of the two adverbs at various levels such as assertion, inference, presupposition and modality. It concludes that： （i） the two adverb constructions ＂chadianr ＋ VP＂ and ＂chabuduo ＋ VP＂ have the same presupposition ＂close to VP＂ ; （ii） the entailment of the construction ＂chadianr ＋ VP＂ is ＂has not VP＂, and the assertion of the construction is the conjunction of its presupposition and its entailment; and the semantic interval of the construction is lower-bounded by its presupposition and upper-bounded by its entailment; （iii） the entailment of the construction ＂chabuduo ＋ VP＂ is ＂does not just VP＂ （ includes ： ＂less than VP＂, ＂more than VP＂, and ＂happens to be VP＂ ）, and the as- sertion of the construction is the conjunction of its presupposition and its entailment too ; （iv） the modality of the construction ＂chadianr ＋ VP＂ is deontic （rejoice vs. pity）, and the modality of the construction ＂chabuduo ＋ VP＂ is epistemic （ not sure or understatement rhetoric）.