Theoretical Research on Modern Chinese Grammar

Author: Wang Weixian
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-12-01
Features: Mr. Wang Weixian is both a grammarian and a logician, and he has a natural advantage in applying contemporary Western grammar theories and methods. Starting from the perspectives of mathematical logic and semiotics, he can better understand the theories and methods of generative grammar and functional grammar. In the collection, the four articles "Compound Sentences and Relational Words," "On Concessive Relations," "On Concessive Sentences," and "On Causal Sentences" are the results of the author's research on modern Chinese compound sentences using modern logic. He points out that the concessive relation "although A, but B" actually contains a presupposition "A → M1 - B," which means "if A, then B is more likely." Analyzing concessive relations and sentences with modern logic can reveal deeper semantic relationships. Moreover, analyzing such issues with traditional logic can only be subjectively "judged" by grammarians, while analyzing them with modern logic provides the possibility of objectively "argued" conclusions, which represents a deeper step in the study of compound sentences. As a logician, the author's analysis of theoretical issues is more profound and his expressions more precise, which is fully reflected in his early work "Three Theories of Speech."
Ferdinand de Saussure's theories on language and speech might be somewhat difficult to understand. Back then, when discussing such major theoretical issues, many people were not yet familiar with Saussure's theories, and the Chinese translation of Course in General Linguistics had not been published. As a result, the more they discussed certain issues, the more confused they became. Some even believed that human society first had speech before language emerged after a period of time, completely separating language and speech and considering them as two entirely independent entities.
Mr. Wang Weixian, however, was not only familiar with Saussure's theories but also had strong logical reasoning in his arguments. For example, he said, "The quantitative relationships and spatial forms studied in mathematics can be said to be abstract, but are these general abstract quantitative relationships and spatial forms unrelated to reality? Since mathematics can extract quantitative relationships and spatial forms from the general real world as its objects of study and establish mathematics, why can't linguistics extract 'language' from speech communication as its object of study and establish linguistics?" He then further analyzed the meaning of "object," pointing out that "the object of scientific research does not refer to the specific things analyzed during the study but rather to the phenomenon domain being studied and a certain aspect of that domain. For example, psychology studies humans, but humans are not the object of psychology; the object of psychology is human psychological activity."
In the 1980s, when discussing the theory of the three planes—syntax, semantics, and pragmatics—in functional grammar, the situation was somewhat similar to the earlier discussions on language and speech. Many people had little understanding of the basic theories of functional grammar. Although Mr. Wang Weixian rarely wrote articles, he published several on this topic. He pointed out that the three planes should be "syntax plane, syntax-semantic plane (abbreviated as semantic plane), and syntax-semantic-pragmatic plane (abbreviated as pragmatic plane)." His explanation might seem a bit verbose, but in reality, it is concise and to the point, because the semantic plane of functional grammar only involves semantic content related to syntax, not the entirety of semantics; the pragmatic plane only involves pragmatic content related to syntax and the semantic plane, not the entirety of pragmatics.