英汉语量词使用中的时空意义比较研究

A Comparative Study of Spatiality and Temporality as Evidenced in the Use of English and Mandarin Chinese Classifiers

英语是非量词型语言,汉语是量词型语言。英语里量词的个体化与范畴分类功能和句法结构协调一致地表达空间意义,作为名词范畴的次类,体现着英语时空分立的基本特征。汉语里量词功能与意义边界的模糊性和可转换性充分体现着汉语时空同态的基本特征,转喻起着重要的作用。汉语里量词时空意义的相互转化与语法标记具有正态相关性,体现着汉语时空同态转喻性思维的基本特征。

As opposed to English, a non-classifier language, Mandarin Chinese is a typical classifier language, in which classifiers are basically categorized into nominal classifiers(NC) and verbal classifiers(VC), expressing spatiality and temporality respectively. In English, the individuating and categorizing functions of classifiers and their syntactic structure(Det) N1+PP[of(Det) N2] jointly express spatiality, while, in Mandarin Chinese, the fuzzy boundary and the ready shift between NC and VC functions and their syntactic variations demonstrate time and space conflation as a result of metonymic operations. Furthermore, Chinese classifiers’ functional ready shift between temporality and spatiality correlate with grammatical marking.