“之”的衰落及其对句法的影响

On the Evanescence of Function Word “zhi” and Its Effects on the Evolution of Syntactic Constructions

"之"是上古汉语中一个十分常用的词。作为人称代词和助词的"之"在中古急剧衰落,给汉语的句法演变带来了深刻的影响。中古汉语中产生或大量出现的一系列重要句法现象,如狭义处置式、隔开式述补结构、新型受事主语句等都与代词"之"的衰落有关;而"被NV"式被动句、无标记关系小句等则与助词"之"的衰落有关。

Although ＂zhi＂（之） is one of the most common words in Pre-Qin Chinese, it is observed to evanescence in Medieval Chinese, especially in its pronoun and auxiliary uses. The waning of zhi results in profound changes in Chinese syntax, one of which is the advent or proliferation of some important syntactic constructions in Medieval Chinese. While the waning of the third person pronoun zhi has brought about constructions such as the POV disposal, the VOC resultative, and the new patient-subject clause, the waning of the auxiliary zhi may take most responsibility for the advent and the proliferation of the long passive and the markedless relative clause respectively.