作格系统的运作机制与语篇功能

Working Mechanisms and Discourse Functions of Ergativity

语言在表征过程时存在两种不同的语法系统,即及物系统和作格系统。及物系统强调的是过程的延伸,即过程是否延及目标,而作格系统强调的是过程的致使意义,即过程是自发的还是由施事者引发的。在作格系统中,及物动词的宾语可以充当不及物动词的主语,这种作格交替特征使语言使用者在表征过程时可以选择不同的句式:作格小句和非作格小句。一方面,语言使用者在作格系统中的选择应服务于语篇的信息组织方式;另一方面,语言使用者在作格系统中的选择也体现了不同的语篇意图。

Transitivity and ergativity are the two grammatical systems available for the representation of processes. While transitivity focuses on the extension of a process, that is, whether the process extends to the goal, ergativity emphasizes the causation of a process, that is, whether the process happens by itself or is caused by an agent. In ergativity, the object of the transitive verb can function as the subject of the intransitive verb. This feature of ergative alternation makes it possible for language users to choose from ergative and non-ergative clauses in representing the same process. At the textual level, language users’ choice from the ergative system serves to facilitate the organization of information on the one hand, and contributes to the achievement of discourse intentions on the other hand.