汉语形容词谓语句中“很”的句法语义研究综述

A Review on Syntactic and Semantic Studies of “Hen(很)” in Chinese Adjectival Predicates

形容词谓语句简单式需要程度副词"很"完句,但其对应的否定式、疑问式、对比焦点句式等则不需要"很"完句。有些学者意图在形式语言学框架下,对此作出统一的解释。已有的研究可归纳为四个流派:"词缀说""系词说""中心语说""副词说"。"词缀说"将"很"分析为形容词的前缀。"系词说"把"很"类比为英语的"be"动词,从而把具有[-V]属性的形容词短语变为[+V]属性。"中心语说"采用Abney提出的程度短语投射(DegP)概念,认为"很"是程度短语的中心语。"副词说"坚持了"很"为程度副词的传统定位,从句法机制和语义机制两个不同的角度考察"很"的功能。

Simple Chinese adjectival predicates need an overt degree adverb "hen( 很)", otherwise they will be deemed as "incomplete". Nevertheless, some non-simple patterns such as negative sentences, interrogative sentences, contrastive sentences etc. show no such a requirement. Scholars attempt to build up a unified analysis under the framework of formal linguistic theories. This paper mainly summarizes four schools of arguments: "hen(很)" as affix;"hen(很)" as "be";"hen( 很)" as functional head;"hen(很)" as adverb. The first argument regards "hen(很)" as a prefix of adjectives. The second one analogizes "hen(很)" with English linking verb "be", facilitating to change the [-V] property of adjectives into [+V]. The third opinion derives from Abney’s concept of DegP, "hen(很)" acting as the head of DegP. The last still holds the adverbial status of "hen(很)" and seeks to identify its various distribution and function under formal syntactic and semantic mechanism.