Readers 读者
Mak5 kɛ4乜个and man3 ɲin2瞞人in Hakka: A historical and typological perspective
客家話的“乜个”和“瞞人”：歷時和類型的透視
Chinfa Lien 連金發
Abstract 摘要
In this paper I will first explore the issues centering around the evolution of the interrogative word 物 as a common source into its modern descendants mak7 and other forms in Hakka. In contrast to the more uniform form in Southern Min, varieties of Hakka boast more variants such as mak7, maɁ7 and man3. Such a variation can be accounted for in terms of minor regional difference as well as types of phonological process. The retention of the bilabial nasal initial of the word物 as a reflex of the Middle Chinese微 phonological category in Hakka lends support to the thesis of lexical diffusion that sound change is not phonologically independent but rather bears the result of interaction with lexicon. Second, on the basis of earlier Hakka texts I will examine the patterns in the distribution of the modern reflex of 物 often written as a demotic word 乜 in its capacity of a variable as a component of the complex interrogative words ‘what’, ‘who’ (=what person) and ‘why’ (=do what kind) or universal quantifiers in Hakka. The finding of the patterns of the Hakka interrogative word will be brought to bear on the patterns of its precursor in Early Modern Chinese colloquial texts. Close attention will be paid to the interaction of inherent lexical properties of the interrogative word and the grammatical constructions in which it occurs. Last of all, an attempt is made to survey the distribution and evolution of the Hakka-related物-based interrogative word in other dialectal areas.
Keywords 關鍵詞
WH-word 疑問詞 Evolution 演變 Typology 類型 Hakka 客家話 Southern Min 閩南語