The Dating Problem of tɕhiIʔ tsɨ vE "吃仔饭" in the Wu Dialect
吴语吃仔饭的断代问题
Tsu-lin Mei 梅祖麟

Abstract 摘要
tɕhiIʔ tsɨ vE ("吃仔饭")is a common expression in Shanghai and Suzhou meaning “have eaten (the meal)”; tɕhiIʔ (吃) is a verb meaning “to eat”, vE (饭）is its object meaning “a meal”, and is the marker for the perfective aspect. When we try to date this expression, that is, to find out the date of its earliest antecedent, we get two different results. The structure “V+perfective marker+O” first arose in the 11th century. But the etymology of tsɨ (仔)is 著, and in Shanghai and Suzhou, 著 becomes tsɨ (仔) only in the phonological stratum inherited from the Jiangdong dialect of the 5th and 6th centuries. This paper attempts to account for the 500 year difference given by two dating criteria, grammatical and phonological. The paper argues that the perfective marker 著 tsɨ (仔) was previously a locative marker, attested in 5th and 6th century texts and preserved in Min dialects. There are also transitional dialects such as Qingtian 青田 in southern Zhejiang and Xiuning 休寧 in southeastern Anhui in which the forms cognate to are used both as the perfective marker and the locative marker. The reason why tɕhiIʔ tsɨ vE ("吃仔饭") gives two dates is tsɨ (仔) because (or more precisely, its etymon) changed its grammatical function while retaining its phonological characteristics.

本文讨论为什么用语法，音韵两种标准给吴语“吃仔饭”断代，会得到两种不同的结果，其间相差五百年有馀。第一节说明“吃仔饭”这种[动词+完成貌词尾+宾语]的结构，至早产生于十世纪以后。第二节说明，属于鱼虞有别那个层次的“着(仔) ” 字，是承继南朝的江东方言。第三节解释为什么两种断代标准所得的结果不同。第四节是馀论和结论。

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