“下不来”的句法语义与历时演变

Syntactic and Semantic Analysis of“Xiabulai(下不来)”and its Diachronic Evolution

“下不来”的语义演变路径是从表示“空间上的不能位移”到表示“数量不能满足”,再到表示抽象的“在人前受窘”,方位隐喻是其语义演变的机制。“下不来”的句法功能主要是充当谓语、定语、补语,“下不来”可以受一些副词修饰,跟“上得去”“上不去”搭配共现,可以形成习语“下不来台”。“下不来”从明代开始出现,清代大量使用,句法语义特征也更为多样。

This article analyzes the semantic evolution path of“xiabulai(下不来)”that is from“difficult displacement in space”to“quantity unsatisfied”,and then to“be embarrassed in front of others”.It believes that orientational metaphor is the mechanism of its semantic evolution.The syntactic function of“xiabulai(下不来)”is mainly to act as predicate,attributive and complement.“Xiabulai(下不来)”can be modified by some adverbs,can be combined with“shangdequ(上得去)”and“shangbuqu(上不去)”,and can form the idiom“xiabulaitai(下不来台)”.Since the beginning of Ming Dynasty,it has been widely used in Qing Dynasty,and its syntactic and semantic features are more diverse.