Research on Predicate Verbs in the Zuo Zhuan

Author: Zhang Meng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: This paper first divides the Zuo Zhuan into 39,544 natural segments according to traditional sentence segmentation, investigates the predicates of each segment, and then selects all segments containing verbal predicates as the research subjects. It analyzes and summarizes the phonetic-semantic table of predicates in the Zuo Zhuan. Based on semantic, grammatical functions, and combinatorial relationships, the predicates in the Zuo Zhuan can be divided into eight subcategories: behavioral verbs, relational verbs, state verbs, directional verbs, modal verbs, existential verbs, perceptual verbs, and comparative verbs. This paper describes the basic characteristics of these eight subcategories, analyzes their usage patterns, and lists relevant examples as comprehensively as possible. One of the most important distinctions between behavioral verbs and state verbs is that behavioral verbs take object complements, while state verbs take causative complements. Previous researchers have already noticed their respective existence. This paper uses transformational methods to argue that this distinction in verb usage not only exists but also has an opposing relationship, which is termed the "opposition rule of passive and causative verb usage." Further research on these two types of verbs reveals that there is also a mutual transformation relationship between them. This paper argues that the key to determining whether opposition or transformation occurs is not grammatical function or combinatorial relationship, but rather the understanding of the pragmatic context of the verbs, which is termed the "transformation rule of passive and causative verb usage." The opposition and transformation rules of passive and causative verb usage will help explain the diversity of grammatical functions and combinatorial relationships exhibited by ancient Chinese verbs, contribute to the classification research of Chinese verbs, aid in the interpretation of Chinese verbal structures, and facilitate the description of Chinese verbal semantics. Regarding the issues of "inflection" and "multiple categories," this paper holds that when analyzing relevant examples, it is not only necessary to examine semantic, grammatical functions, and combinatorial relationships but also to place the relevant words in the broader context of the history of Chinese to investigate their origins and evolution. Emphasis should be placed on improving the scientific rigor of word class classification methods rather than adhering to the principle of theoretical system efficiency; attention should be given to discovering rules that effectively solve problems rather than pursuing "one-size-fits-all" approaches; and emphasis should be placed on the overall manifestation of words in the Chinese language, rather than using the frequency of examples in specialized texts as the primary criterion for determining whether a word is inflected.