Lexical information and beyond: Meaning coercion and constructional inference of the Mandarin verb gan
词汇讯息之外: 由中文动词「赶」探讨句构内涵及衍生语意
Meichun Liu 刘美君

Abstract 摘要
This paper argues for the inclusion of constructional inferences in semantic representation of verbs. By examining the transitive pattern of the Mandarin verb GǍN (趕) ‘rush’, it is found that verbal semantics can only be adequately represented if constructionally coerced information is taken into consideration. The construction [GǍN + NP] renders specific interpretations that cannot be directly derived from the lexical meaning of either the verb or the object NP. The construction itself carries salient information for the appropriate interpretation. The ‘ellipsed’ eventive information is analyzed from the perspective of Construction Grammar (Goldberg 1995). Moreover, a compositional framework based on Qualia Structure (Pustejovsky 1995) is utilized to resolve the potential ambiguity arising from the construction-triggered meaning. By combining the two complementary approaches, this paper attempts to account for and represent contextualized information as well as varied meaning facets associated with a partially-filled construction.

本文旨在探讨词汇讯息与句式内涵间的语意互补关系，强调特定句式与词汇结合后的「衍生语意」亦为动词语意研究的重要课题。中文动词「追」「赶」虽为近义词，但其语意类型差异颇大。「赶」提供动词语意研究上一个有趣的现象，即动词词汇本身并不提供明确的事件讯息，而是透过所连结的名词补语来标示述语活动，例如「赶作业」、「赶戏」、「赶三点半」皆内含不同的特定事件。在「赶＋NP」的句构中，事件动作讯息在动词上缺席，却由名词补语来界定补充，「赶」本身成为语意框架与情态的标记，功能类似一「代动词」。此一现象可由「句构语法」及「衍生词法」两种理论观点加以分析解释。本文的最终目标是要指出词汇讯息的表征实应包括句式的组合及衍生语意的考量。

Subject Keywords 关键词

Lexical semantics 词汇语义 Mandarin verb 汉语动词 Constructional inference 句构信息 Meaning coercion 语义衍生 Construction grammar 句构语法

Article 文章

<< Back 返回

Readers 读者