“差不多”副词都差不多吗？--“差不多”、否定词及梯级的相互作用

Are all "approximate adverbs" alike?-An interaction of approximate adverbs with negatorsand scale

本文通过比较汉语普通话、英语以及粤语(指香港粤语)的"差不多"副词,找出语言、方言之间的"差不多"副词在语义上的异同,以及它们与否定和梯级语义的相互关系。跨语言看,表达"接近/差不多VP"的意思至少有三种手段:(i)谓语中加入显性否定词;(ii)谓语不带否定词但"差不多"副词在词汇上带有[+NEG]语义特征;或(iii)谓语中加入显性否定词而"差不多"副词在词汇上也同时带有[+NEG]语义特征。普通话只能有形式(i),英语可以有形式(i)或(ii),而粤语则可以有形式(i)或(iii)。也就是说,在自然语言中,令"差不多"义指向梯级的下限,(i)是最基本的手法,是语言之间的共性。至于(ii)或(iii),则显示出语言之间的异性。不论"差不多"副词与否定的关系有何不一样,它们的共同点都是通过不同的否定手段令"差不多"副词在梯级上取相反方向,给出一个负向或下向指向,使"差不多"义修饰由梯级的上限变成下限。这些副词对句子的极值和在梯级上的位置敏感,与英语"even"或普通话的"(连)……都"相像,表现出"差不多"副词与梯级副词在语义上的共同点。

This paper compares approximate adverbs in Mandarin Chinese,English and Cantonese,with the aim to find out universal properties and parametric variations of approximate adverbs in natural language.The three languages/dialects show the common property of appealing to[almost]p to express approximate meaning in affirmative sentences,giving the meaning of 'almost/nearly VP'.However,in negative sentences,they show parametric variations at lexical,syntactic and semantic levels.Three ways are adopted to express negative approximate meanings,which are(i) the presence of an overt negator in the predicate to give a negative proposition,hence[[almost]~p];(ii) the use of an approximate adverb which is lexically encoded with a covert negative feature,with a positive proposition,hence[[+NEG]almost]p,or(iii) the use of an approximate adverb which is lexically encoded with a covert negative feature,with a negative proposition,hence[[+NEG]almost]~p.While Mandarin Chinese can only appeal to(i),English adopts(i) or(ii) and Cantonese(i) or(iii).This reveals that when approximate adverbs give a negative approximate meaning,(i) represents the most basic way in natural language,hence a language-universal property,while(ii) and(iii) are language-specific properties and would demonstrate parametric variations.