THE GRAMMATICALIZAT1ON OF THE VERB DO IN HAKKA
客语动词「到」字之语法化
Huei-ling Lai 　赖惠玲

Abstract 摘要
The polysemous lexeme DO, literally meaning be-at or arrive, in Hakka, a language spoken mainly in Taiwan and China, carries multiple grammatical Functions ranging from a main verb, a coverb, a complementizer, to a verbal complement. In regard to these phenomena, the study has two claims. Structurally. DO is grammaticalized from a full-fledged verb, through the path of a coverb. and a complementizer, to a verbal complement. The development not only reflects the unidirectionality of a grammaticalization process but also exhibits a continuous grammaticalization chain by which a lexical item travels from a lexical-content word to a grammatical morpheme, and then from a less grammatical morpheme to an even more grammatical morpheme. (Hopper 1991: Hopper & Traugott 1991, 1993; Heine et al. 1991) Second, the meaning extensions of DO display the scale of a metaphorical abstraction: PERSON/OBJECT > SPACE > TIME > MANNER/RESULT (cf. Heine et al. 1991). The development also exemplifies the three semantic-pragmatic tendencies characterizing paths of semantic change in Traugott (1989). More specifically. DO denoting a person or an object existing or arriving at a certain place is metaphorically extended to specify a location at which some action takes place. or to mark a spatial or temporal goal. which some action has reached. Subsequently. the meaning is further developed to indicate the result or manner caused by some other action. Finally, the resultative meaning of DO may be embodied into a verb to denote achievement resulting from the action of the verb. Hence, the synchronic semantic connections between different lexical domains of DO are accounted for naturally.

客语「到」字是个多义词，具有主要动词、副动词、补语连词及动词补语等多重之语法功能，本文主要目的即在从句法结构及语意两方面的观点诠释这个现象。就句法结构来看，「到」之语法化是一个从地道的动词、经由副动词及补语连词、到动词补语的过程，这个过程不仅反映了语法化的单一方向性，同时也呈现了实词语法化到语法功能较强之语法词位的链。从语意的观点而言，「到」之语意延伸彰显隐喻的范畴（从人或物、空间、时间到结果或状态），这样的发展左证了西方语言学家对语意变迁路径的论点。更具体来说，「到」表示一个人或物体存在或到达某个地方隐喻地扩展到说明某行动发生的地点，或指示经由某行为到达的空间或时间的目标。继而，进一步标示因其他行动引发之状态或结果，最后则转成表示任何行动结果的补语。如此，自然地诠释了「到」字之不同语法层面间和谐的语意连系。

<< Back 返回

Readers 读者