英语强化词Clean的语法化研究

On the Grammaticalization of the English Intensifier Clean

本文以英语强化词“clean”为研究对象,进行语法化的历时演变个案研究。研究基于《牛津英语词典》以及美国历史英语语料库中的语料,分析了强化词“clean”的语法化演变路径、演变机制和动因。研究最后得出结论,“clean”经历了实义形容词到低强化副词再到高强化副词的语法化演变路径,主要分为两个阶段;其演变过程中主要体现了隐喻转喻与主观化两大演变机制,动因主要是语义泛化和效率性动因,并且机制和动因充分体现了人类作为语言使用者的主体性特征。该研究在一定程度上丰富了英语强化词语法化的个案研究,具有一定的参考价值和意义。This paper focuses on the English intensifier “clean”, presenting a case study for its grammaticalization. Based on the Old English Dictionary and the Corpus of Historical American English, the study analyzes the evolutionary path, mechanism and motivation of the grammaticalization of “clean”. The study concludes that with two stages, the evolutionary path is from notional adjective to low-intensive functional adverb, and then to high-intensive functional adverb. Metaphor and metonymy as well as subjectivity are the main mechanisms, while semantic generalization and efficiency factor serve as motivations. Both the mechanism and the motivation demonstrate the predominant role of human beings. This study, to some degree, enriches the case study of the grammaticalization of English intensifiers, with some reference value and significance.