理解的时相

Aspects of Understanding

本文尝试从一个特定的视角——动词时相(aspect)理论——切入对"理解"这一汉语概念的探讨。文中将简要介绍"时相"理论对几类动词时相的区分(活动词项、目标词项、成就词项、状态词项),在此框架下分析"理解"这个汉语动词的几种时相,考察经典"时相"理论中可能存在的某些问题,并进而尝试讨论,"时相"考察可能为我们对"理解"的理解带来怎样的启示。

This paper is a conceptual investigation into the Chinese word '理解(understanding)' from the perspective provided by contemporary verbal aspect theory.Zeno Vendler distinguished four aspects of verbal terms;activity,accomplishment,achievement and state,among which a verb may exhibit divergent uses with respect to two or more aspects.'理解' is precisely such a verb,whose uses can only be properly analyzed in terms of three of those 'aspects'.It should also be seen,that the verbal aspects exhibited by the Chinese word '理解' and by(e.g.) the English word 'understand' are not exactly the same.Owing to such subtleties,the word '理解' calls for particular examinations.Part I to Part III of this paper will treat three different aspects of '理解' respectively.In Part IV the interrelation of those three kinds of 'MM' will be observed in the light of conceptual analysis of 'ability'.