We find that the grammaticalization motivation of the approximate word "lai" is mainly language contact, frequency effect and repetition, and its grammaticalization mechanism includes metaphor, metonymy and competition mechanism. The following is a model essay on the motivation and mechanism of grammaticalization of the auxiliary word "lai" shared by J.L.

Abstract: "Lai" is a basic word in modern Chinese, which is frequently used and complicated in usage. Based on Peking University CCL corpus, this paper analyzes the formation and development of the auxiliary word "lai" in ancient times, middle ages, modern times and modern times, and seeks the motivation and mechanism of its grammaticalization through data statistics and corpus analysis. The in-depth excavation of the auxiliary word "lai" in this paper not only helps to deepen the understanding of the conditions and development of the auxiliary word, but also provides some basis and ideas for the teaching of the auxiliary word "lai" in teaching Chinese as a foreign language.

Keywords: grammaticalization motivation mechanism

I. Introduction

The predecessors have done a lot of research on the grammaticalization of "Lai". For example, Lv Shuxiang (1957) thought that the earliest approximate word "lai" should come from "lai". Chen Fu Ota (1987) thinks that "lai" can not only indicate the proximity in position, but also indicate the psychological proximity. Cao (1995), (1995) and Jiang He (1997) discussed the grammaticalization track of the auxiliary word "lai", situational auxiliary word and dynamic auxiliary word "lai". Wang Guoshuan (2003) compared the grammaticalization of "Lai" and "Qu". Shi Yuzhi (2003) thinks that verb-verb phrases are restricted by disyllabic tendency, frequency of * * * and tight syntactic environment. In our opinion, most of the existing studies discuss the grammaticalization of the resultative from the perspective of origin, but there is still a lack of research on the grammaticalization path and motivation of the auxiliary word "lai". Based on the corpus of ancient Chinese in Peking University, this paper discusses the motivation and mechanism of the grammaticalization of the approximate word "lai" from the perspective of its formation and development system.

Second, the formation and development of the approximate word "Lai"

(A) the formation process of the approximate number word "Lai"

It is generally believed that the approximate word "Lai" comes from "Lai (already)" (Lv Shuxiang,1957; Ota Chen Fu,1958; Jiang Lansheng, 1984). Based on the investigation of language materials, it is found that "Lai" appeared in Yi (Ji) Lai as a word of time orientation in the pre-Qin period, and the former was mostly supplemented by "Cong" and "Zi", indicating a period of time from a time point. Put it at the end of the clause, which is different from "next year, next year" and so on. For example:

(1) My ancestors did good deeds and became ten princes. I haven't lost anything since I hit Bobby. ("Mandarin Volume 18 Chu Language")

In the texts after the Han Dynasty, "Zi" showed two trends: first, the use frequency of "Zi" increased; Secondly, the frequency of the preposition "since" is reduced, and "time+since" can be used to represent a period of time alone, which provides structural conditions for the emergence of similar words later. The word "lai" can be omitted as "lai", which was first seen in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and became a common phenomenon in the Tang and Five Dynasties. For example:

(2) The villain's mother is a hundred years old and can't heal after a long illness. If she is an official, she will have a reason to live. ("The World Says New Yu Shujie")

(3) This is a question of knowing what to worry about and what to do. It has been an ordinary word since ancient times, and it is more obvious to think that it is a mistake. ("Yan Family Instructions")

(4) I saw a dry well in front of the hall, and there was no water for three or two years. (Selected Works of Dunhuang Bianwen)

All the above "lai" can be translated into "lai", which is a key step in transforming "lai" into similar words. In the Tang Dynasty, the use of "Yi (Already) Lai" expanded, no longer just referring to the time period.

(5) Yuan Gong didn't belong to the old temple, but he came ten miles away, on a steep hill, and there was a grass temple when he came to power. (Selected Works of Dunhuang Bianwen Hui Yuan Biography)

The word "has come" in example (5) indicates the region and local scope; "Lai" in Example (6) refers to people or things, indicating the range of people or things. It can be seen that the application scope of "zi" has expanded, and it can represent time, place, people and so on.

There are six combinations of the approximate word "lai" in Middle Chinese: numeral+lai, numeral+quantifier+lai, numeral+quantifier+noun, numeral+quantifier+adjective, numeral 10+noun. In the early days of modern Chinese, except for the numeral "number+lai+quantity", the position of the approximate numeral "lai" has not been determined.

Before the Tang Dynasty, there were similar numerals such as "Xu, Yue, Yu" and connected numerals representing divisors. However, since the appearance of the similar word "Lai", it has the same grammatical function as "Xu", and the use cases of "Xu" in travel notes are more than "Lai", which shows that "Lai" is on the rise. After the Song Dynasty, the auxiliary word "Xu" gradually declined, and "Lai" gradually replaced "Xu" and became a common approximate word in modern Chinese.

Semantically, (1999) thinks that "Lai" means "Duo". Journey: "200 cavalry, 600 foot soldiers, want to ride a thousand people." Only when "coming" means "more" can we understand "thousands of people and thousands of faces". Jiang Lansheng (1984) thinks that the approximate "lai" originally only means no more than a certain amount in modern Chinese. "The Collection of Hua Mu in Luoyang": "Only four flower heads are found on each plant, and the rest can be cut off". First, limit the rest to "four branches".

It can be seen that "since" means that within a certain range, the indicated range extends to one end. The semantic function of "lai" is the same as that of "lai", and it also means within a certain range. Later, because the use of "Lai" gradually replaced "Xu", "Lai" began to add the meaning of "Xu", from the original development to the expansion at both ends, and began to express the meaning of "left and right", which can also mean more or less, which is the reason for "merging" and "Xu".

This can explain the differences in the understanding of "Lai" in modern Chinese. In some areas, the word "Lai" is considered as "less", in others as "more" and in others as "left and right". These differences stem from the different grammaticalization degree of "Lai" in modern Chinese dialects.

The Development and Change of the Synonym "Lai" in Modern Times

In the late modern times, the synonym "lai" has made great progress in syntactic position and sentence selection. First of all, the syntactic position is gradually determined. "Numerals+Lai" and "Numerals+Quantifiers+Lai" did not last long. After the Song Dynasty, the division of labor between "Lai" and "Lai" was clear. Except for a period of time, such as "the past few years", phrases with the word "Lai" indicating approximate numbers must end with nouns or quantifiers, and "Lai" cannot be placed at the end. For example:

(7) Neither of the two companions is over twenty years old, and most of them are not innocent people. (Surprise at the First Moment, Volume 34)

(8) Since becoming a monk, I have gained a lot by writing classics with others. (same as above)

Modern Chinese has established a "number+noun" format, such as "three hundred gold", so it is still valid after adding the approximate word "lai". However, with the development of Chinese quantifiers, the number of quantifiers that directly match the head language has decreased. In the literature of Qing dynasty, we have hardly seen this format. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the use of the approximate numeral "lai" gradually stabilized in the syntactic position, and it has been used ever since.

In the literary works of Qing Dynasty, the structure of "number+lai+name" restricted the following nouns. When expressing the divisor, the nouns after "lai" are limited to "person" and "day, year" indicating time. For example:

(9) Pinger picked a peony, and about twenty people passed it around, which was very lively. (Sixty-third time in A Dream of Red Mansions)

(10) In less than ten days, he submitted two letters in succession, ... (I witnessed the current situation of monsters for the first time in twenty years)

In early modern Chinese, numerals in other formats can be single digits, multi-digits, zero at the end or non-zero, that is, numerals are not limited. The following only examines the stable sentence patterns in modern Chinese.

(1 1) For fifteen years, you stole 270 yuan from me. ("Warning the world, Wan Xiu Niang revenges Shantinger")

(12) I couldn't put it down when I saw the exquisite carving on the door of Deng. (A Brief History of Civilization)

(13) Open it, there are hundreds of dollars in it, ... (The Present Situation of Witnessing Monsters in Twenty Years)

(14) There is a copper iron fence here. The pillars of the fence are square, one foot wide and one foot thick ...

(15) The old hero went into town and found a secluded place. When the second watch came, he went around to the east wall of the prison. (Three Swords)

Examples (1 1) ~ (15) approximate five collocations of the word "lai": dozens of lai+quantity, number+lai+quantity+shape, number+lai+quantity+name, number+quantity+lai+shape. Example (1 1) is different from modern Chinese. Numbers can be numbers with a mantissa other than zero. This situation still existed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but it was not widely used.

Example (13) The approximate number words before "lai" are no longer composed of two adjacent numbers like the Tang and Five Dynasties, but only in the form of "hundred", and other words are no longer used. Numerals within ten are in the form of "numeral+quantifier+noun" and "numeral+quantifier+adjective", from which it can be inferred that the sentence pattern similar to the numeral "lai" in Qing Dynasty requires numerals.

Motivation and Mechanism of Grammaticalization of "Lai"

The grammatical phenomenon of "Lai" in various periods is analyzed above, and the motivation and mechanism of its emergence and development are discussed below.

(A) the grammaticalization motivation of "Lai"

There are two factors in the change of language: the external environment and the internal environment. The development of "Lai" is reflected in external language contact and internal high-frequency repetition.

Language contact is a concept of sociolinguistics, including contact between languages and within languages. Influenced by social, political, economic, military and cultural factors, it is one of the important ways to enrich language. In the development process of "Lai", it is mainly influenced by ethnic integration. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a war between the North and the South, and the population moved greatly, accompanied by the integration of languages. "Lai" was very active in this period, and the directional complement was fully developed in this period, which laid a good foundation for the emergence and development of other parts of speech and usage. The Tang Dynasty was unified, with open ideology and culture, and frequent cultural exchanges throughout the country. As an approximate word, "Lai" was definitely formed in the Tang Dynasty at the latest.

Let's look at the high-frequency repetition motivation. Haspelmath(200 1) thinks: "The more frequently a grammaticalized candidate uses it compared with other competing candidates, the more likely he is to be grammaticalized." Bybee( 1994) also emphasizes that repetition is the most important feature of grammaticalization, and the necessary condition for promoting the legalization of a word is that it has a high enough frequency of use. "Lai" is a basic word with high frequency in Chinese, and its high frequency function often becomes the origin of grammaticalization.

(B) the grammaticalization mechanism of "Lai"

The grammaticalization process of "Lai" mainly includes two mechanisms: implicit metonymy and competition. Reanalysis and analogy in grammaticalization are mainly realized through implicit metonymy. Take the composition of the approximate auxiliary word "lai" as an example. From "uninvited guest" to "coming year in 2000" is a metaphorical structure, but there is no inductive relationship between the two "Lai", but in fact there is a continuum between them, which is realized through intermediary metonymy, that is, "Lai" changes from a verb to an approximate word through the transition of the intermediate continuum.

Competition mechanism refers to the competition between "lai" and other words with the same function. There may be one or more words competing with it, which is generally affected by the frequency of use. The approximate word "lai" overcomes other words and consolidates its usage. The approximate word "lai" experienced a competitive process from "lai" to "lai" and "lai" used together, and finally replaced "lai" as an approximate word with relatively stable usage.

Four. conclusion

By analyzing the formation and development of the auxiliary word "lai", this paper discusses the grammaticalization motivation and mechanism of "lai" on the basis of data statistics and corpus analysis. We find that the grammaticalization motivation of the approximate word "lai" is mainly language contact, frequency effect and repetition, and its grammaticalization mechanism includes metaphor, metonymy and competition mechanism. The development of "Lai" is not isolated, but interrelated. "Lai" has many grammatical meanings, among which the basic meanings of the approximate auxiliary word "Lai" and "Lai" discussed in this paper are far from each other, but there is an internal relationship between them with different semantics. The function and meaning of "Lai" have a grammaticalization process from real to virtual, and the grammaticalization process presents a one-way feature.

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