语料库驱动下的英语副词AGAIN语义演变历时研究

A Corpus-driven Study of Semantic Changes of English Adverb AGAIN: A Diachronic Perspective

历时、动态地研究英语副词的语义关联性和复杂性有助于还原该词义产生、扩张和嬗变规律。本研究从牛津英语词典、COHA和MED语料库中提取993-2009年间英语副词again全部语料,采用近邻聚类法统计该词语义聚类的时间节点,共分9个阶段;再随机抽取598个实例,人工统计各语义项在9个时间节点的分布情况,追溯各语义产生、渐变的规律和动因。结果显示,范畴属性、隐喻、转喻、主观化是导致英语副词again语义演变的综合诱因。本研究的发现既验证了词汇语义演变的语法化进程,又彰显了词汇多义性存在的合理性。

A diachronic and dynamic probe into the semantic relations and complexity of English adverbs helps understand how meanings are originated,extended and changed.All the data of English adverb AGAIN are collected from Oxford English Dictionary,COHA and M ED corpora,ranging from the years of 993 to 2009.This paper uses VNC method is used to cluster temporally adjacent data to classify the semantic development of English adverb AGAIN into nine stages.After the semantic distribution and frequency of different meanings of the word at nine stages is manually analyzed with the observation of randomly chosen 598 examples,and the rules and motivation for how different readings are generated and developed are dug out.It is found that semantic changes of the English adverb AGAIN are triggered by such factors as category attributes,metaphor,metonymy and subjectivity.The present study offers an interpretation to lexical grammaticalization and verifies the rational existence of polysemy of words as well.