英语副词BARELY主观性演变的历时考察

The Subjective Evolution of “BARELY”: A Diachronic Perspective

作为英语形容词BARE的衍生词,副词BARELY在形式和意义上表现为肯定和否定的两种不同极性。基于语料,文章欲从历时的角度考察BARELY的主观性特征。研究发现,从17世纪到20世纪,副词BARELY主观性特征增强,客观性特征减弱。从语言结构维度看,BARELY会与人称代词、认知动词以及否定算子等语言元素进行搭配并体现出特定的语言现象。从语言范畴维度看,BARELY逐渐倾向于以受话人为主体,体现正面情感,具有较强的认知特征。总之,英语副词BARELY的主观性不仅体现为功能和意义上的转变,还表现出明显的范畴分化现象。

＂ BARELY＂, a derivative word of ＂BARE＂, has both positive and negative po- larities. Based on the corpus data,the subjective features of ＂BARELY＂ is examined from the diachronic perspective. The result shows that the subjective feature has been increasing from 17th to 20th century and the objective feature has been decreasing meanwhile. In terms of struc- ture,＂ BARELY＂ collocates with personal pronouns, cognition verbs, and operator of negation, which makes special linguistic phenomenon. In terms of linguistic category, it prefers the pa- tient as the main body and presents positive affect, which shows strong tendency of cognition. In summary, the subjectivity of ＂BARELY＂ is not only reflected from its function and meaning, but also from category division.