西夏语复数后缀刍议

A Revisit on Plural Suffixes of Tangut Nouns

本文考察西夏语名词复数后置语法标记■、ηji^(2)和ηew^(2)的语法功能与分布,重新梳理与一致关系标记同形的语素nji^(2)的语源及语法功能演变路径,探讨名词复数标记功能交叠的原因。结合西夏文献中的对音材料及西夏字的拟音,提出了两种推测:第一,复数标记区分有生命与无生命;第二,复数标记在口语实际读音中已弱化为鼻韵尾。

This paper investigates the grammatical functions and distribution of the three grammatical markers which are suffixed to Tangut nouns to indicate plurality,i.e,anji,■nji^(2) ,■nji^(2)and ■nji^(2),provides a new unraveling of the etymological origin and evolutionary path of the grammatical function of the morpheme■nji^(2),a homograph of the agreement marker,and explores the causes for the functional overlapping of the three plural markers of nouns With transcriptional materials in Tangut literature and phonetic reconstruction of Tangut characters taken into account,this paper puts forward two explanatory inferences:firstlythe plural markers are used according to whether the marked nouns are animate or inanimate;secondly the plural markers have been reduced phoneticallytonasal endings in actual pronunciationof spoken Tangut.