漢語代詞脫落與否的機制與其教學應用
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Date
2008-07-31
Authors
陳俊光
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Publisher
行政院國家科學委員會
Abstract
語言類型中的「代詞脫落參數」（Prop-drop Parameter）將世界語言區分為（1）「代 詞脫落語言」，如漢、日語，以及（2）「非代詞脫落語言」，如英、法語。漢、日語 同屬「代詞脫落語言」，兩者都無須藉著屈折變化來標記省略的代詞；只要有適當的語 境，都可以省略主語或賓語，或者是同時省略兩者。因為所省略的代詞，都極易從語境 中推衍而出，因此代詞脫落的漢語和日語都是屬於高度語用的語言。這有別於其他以語 法為主的非代詞脫落語言，如英語或法語。文獻常記載，英語或法語學生在學習華語與 或日語時，經常添加了原本應該省略的人稱代詞，因而產生達不通順或語義混淆的現象。 本計畫的提出，乃是有鑑於傳統研究對於語言類型中「代詞脫落參數」探討的不足 之處：先行研究對漢語和英語的探討，多在於指出兩種語言在指稱舊信息時有著截然不 同的表現法：前者以零代詞（zero pronoun）來指稱前文提過的已知信息，而後者以人 稱代詞（personal pronoun）來表達。但是，漢語固然為「代詞脫落語言」，而以零代詞 來稱前後文的名詞做為語言使用的常態。然而遇到特殊的情況，漢語也可以捨零代詞， 改以人稱代詞來進行指涉功能。但其捨零代詞而就人稱代詞的原因是基於何種理由，在 此方面的研究則相對較少。這正是本計畫欲探究之處。本文假設漢語捨零代詞而就人稱 代詞的整體動因，乃是為遵守語言經濟原則：即人稱代詞的出現，表示所傳達的並非重 複的語言信息，而是在言談或篇章中，起帶入新信息的作用。當捨零代詞而就人稱代詞， 乃可能基於各種不同的具體理由。本計畫欲從較大的語料中，有系統地探索捨零代詞而 就人稱代詞的可能具體制約。 本計畫工作重點在理論建立與教學應用兩方面。首先，釐清代詞脫與否在口語和書 面語的各種制約因素：即在篇章言談中，何時使用零代詞，何時捨零代詞而就人稱代詞。 其次，在具體釐清代詞脫與否的機制與分析所得的重要語料，可應用在對外華教學上， 以進行教案與診斷性檢測的設計。
Prop-Drop Parameter, a language typology, divides world languages into two categories: (1) Prop-drop languages including Chinese and Japanese and (2) Non-Prop-drop languages including English and French. Chinese and Japanese, both belonging to the former category, allow for the omission of Subject or Object pronouns or both as long as proper discourse context is called for. These languages do not resort to morphological inflection to entitle the omission, since the omitted pronouns can be easily inferred from the discourse context. Chinese and Japanese, therefore, are considered highly pragmatic languages. This is in stark contrast to non-Prop-drop languages such as English and French, which have rather strict syntactic constraints and normally do not allow for such omission. Thus, it has been often pointed out in the literature that English or French learners of Chinese or Japanese tend to oversupply personal pronouns which are supposed to be omitted in given discourse context, thus resulting in semantic superfluity or confusion in their interlanguage. The proposed project aims to address the insufficiency of previous research on the language typology of Prop-drop Parameter, in which considerable efforts have been devoted to different anaphoric mechanisms for given information provided in discourse context: viz. Chinese uses the zero pronoun, whereas English uses the personal pronoun. However, Chinese, as a Prop-drop language often using the zero pronoun for second mention, does appear to opt for the personal pronoun in certain discourse contexts and situations. But as to the underlying factors which motivate such uses, further research is yet to be seen. The present project, therefore, aims to explore those possible factors which accounts for the use or non-use of the zero pronoun. It is generally hypothesized in this project that the non-use of the zero pronoun is to obey the Principle of Economy in language use: Using the personal pronoun, which is against the tendency to use the zero pronoun in a Prop-drop language, is to convey non-repetitious information. That is, by means of the personal pronoun, new information is introduced into the discourse. However, the specific constraints for not using zero-pronouns may vary according to each given discourse situation. The project aims to explore the possible constraints from an extended data base. The focus of the project is thus two-fold. Theoretically, it attempts to unravel the underlying mechanisms which conditioning the use of zero or personal pronouns in discourse context. Pedagogically, the results of data analysis can be incorporated into curriculum design and diagnostic testing to better benefits learners of Chinese as a second language.
Prop-Drop Parameter, a language typology, divides world languages into two categories: (1) Prop-drop languages including Chinese and Japanese and (2) Non-Prop-drop languages including English and French. Chinese and Japanese, both belonging to the former category, allow for the omission of Subject or Object pronouns or both as long as proper discourse context is called for. These languages do not resort to morphological inflection to entitle the omission, since the omitted pronouns can be easily inferred from the discourse context. Chinese and Japanese, therefore, are considered highly pragmatic languages. This is in stark contrast to non-Prop-drop languages such as English and French, which have rather strict syntactic constraints and normally do not allow for such omission. Thus, it has been often pointed out in the literature that English or French learners of Chinese or Japanese tend to oversupply personal pronouns which are supposed to be omitted in given discourse context, thus resulting in semantic superfluity or confusion in their interlanguage. The proposed project aims to address the insufficiency of previous research on the language typology of Prop-drop Parameter, in which considerable efforts have been devoted to different anaphoric mechanisms for given information provided in discourse context: viz. Chinese uses the zero pronoun, whereas English uses the personal pronoun. However, Chinese, as a Prop-drop language often using the zero pronoun for second mention, does appear to opt for the personal pronoun in certain discourse contexts and situations. But as to the underlying factors which motivate such uses, further research is yet to be seen. The present project, therefore, aims to explore those possible factors which accounts for the use or non-use of the zero pronoun. It is generally hypothesized in this project that the non-use of the zero pronoun is to obey the Principle of Economy in language use: Using the personal pronoun, which is against the tendency to use the zero pronoun in a Prop-drop language, is to convey non-repetitious information. That is, by means of the personal pronoun, new information is introduced into the discourse. However, the specific constraints for not using zero-pronouns may vary according to each given discourse situation. The project aims to explore the possible constraints from an extended data base. The focus of the project is thus two-fold. Theoretically, it attempts to unravel the underlying mechanisms which conditioning the use of zero or personal pronouns in discourse context. Pedagogically, the results of data analysis can be incorporated into curriculum design and diagnostic testing to better benefits learners of Chinese as a second language.