从语法化和方言接触看马来西亚华语"几"

摘要:

马来西亚华语中副词"几"的用法较为广泛。从语法化及语言接触的角度探讨这一用法发现，马来西亚华语"几"的副词用法是受中国南方方言特别是粤语的影响所致。马来西亚华语副词"几"主要有三种用法： (a)表询问，用千疑问句；(b)表任一程度；(c)表程度高。另外，马来西亚华语"几+动/形+(一)下"结构用法也很普遍。马来西亚华语"几"的副词用法的产生与"几"的语法化具有密切关系。"几"从表数量到表程度， 是一个由客观数量到主观程度的演变历程。中国大陆普通话已经没有程度副词"几"的用法，但是中国南方方言的"几"的这种用法却比较普遍，尤其是粤语。马来西亚华语"几"的副词用法是受粤语的影响而形成的，是方言接触的结果，马来西亚华语"几"的副词用法复制了粤语中"几"的这种用法，是一种语法复制现象。

Compared with its counterpart in Mainland China Mandarin, the degree adverb jĭ 几 in Malaysia Mandarin is not only widely used, but also commonly found in unique constructions such as "jĭ + verb/adjective + yíxià". From the perspectives of grammaticalization and language contact, this paper argues that the usage of the degree adverb jĭ in Malaysia Mandarin has been influenced by the southern Chinese dialects, especially Cantonese, and represents as a case of "grammatical replication" (Heine and Kuteva 2003). Specifically, this study finds that the degree adverb jĭ in Malaysia Mandarin has three main functions: (a) to indicate a general degree in interrogative sentences; (b) to indicate any degree; (c) to indicate a high degree. Moreover, this study investigates the historical development of jĭ and proposes that its evolution from a quantity word to a (subjective) degree adverb is a process of grammaticalization. Finally, based on an investigation of Chinese southern dialects where jĭ can be used as a degree adverb, as well as the language situation in Malaysia, this study proposes that the unique features of jĭ in Malaysia Mandarin can be attributed to the Cantonese spoken in Malaysia via language contact, and the whole process is a result of grammatical replication.