韵律的作用到底有多大

To What Extent the Function of Prosody Works in Chinese Grammar

韵律语法是最近汉语语言学界的热点和难点。本文首先回顾了韵律语法中的重要概念——重音,并指出"动词分配重音说"在汉语中的局限性。文章接着说明利用最小对比对在进行韵律句法研究中的重要性和复杂性,并通过讨论时量与动量成分的语序问题和动词后表处所介宾短语的语序问题,说明这两个问题还应该属于句法语义的研究范畴,而不应该属于韵律句法的研究范畴。文章意在强调:我们不应忽视韵律在语法中的作用,但也不应夸大韵律在语法中的作用。

This paper has made a review of the definition and representation of stress, which is a pivotal concept in prosodic grammar and pointed out some limitations of the hypothesis that the phrasal stress is assigned by the main verb of a sentence. It expounds, with examples in Chinese, the importance and complexity of usage of minimal pairs in the study of prosodic syntax. It then discusses the order of the object and the verbal measure word and that of the object and the prepositional phrase of locality and comes to the conclusion that they should be studied in syntax and semantics, but not in prosody. What is emphasized in this paper is that the influence of prosody should not be ignored, but should not be overestimated either.