汉语个体量词的复杂性特征——基于术语英译的语言学理据

Complexity of Chinese Sortal Classifiers:An Analysis on the Linguistic Foundations of the English Translations of the Term Geti Liangci

汉语个体量词在语言学中有着广泛的研究,但其术语英译却并不一致。该文在梳理中外文献中发现个体量词的术语英译大致分为两大类:classifiers和quantifiers或measure words,它们在中西方语言学中有着不同的理论依据。该文将汉语个体量词纳入中国语言学和西方语言学传统中,对比它们的概念和范畴,探讨它们的句法特点、语义特点及相关功能,发现汉语个体量词呈现出跨范畴的特点,兼具语法和词汇的特性,并且在语义和语用上具有多重功能,是具有复杂性特征的语言现象。分析探讨汉语个体量词的复杂性特征,能为汉语个体量词的对外汉语教学提供参考,在语言的多样性和普遍性研究方面也具有重要的意义。

While extensive studies have been conducted on Chinese sortal classifiers or geti liangci in Western and Chinese linguistics,little consistency can be found in the English translations of the Chinese term geti liangci.In literature,the term has been found to be translated into two major types:classifiers and quantifiers or measure words.The article argues that the different English translations of the term geti liangci can reflect different approaches to the language phenomenon,their different theoretical foundations,and the complexity of the language phenomenon.This article aims to approach the complexity of Chinese sortal classifiers in terms of their conceptions,domains,syntax,semantics and related functions in traditional Chinese and Western linguistics based on the different English translations of geti liangci.The results show that Chinese sortal classifiers are complex language phenomena with regard to their presence in multi-domains,their grammatical and lexical features,and their multifunctionality.These findings can contribute to further studies on Chinese numeral classifiers in terms of language complexity and universality,as well as to applied linguistics,typically involving teaching Chinese as a foreign language.