Proverb "Wei" And Its Relevant Issues

Based on a cross-language phenomenon of pro-verbs, this thesis explores various linguistic structures that are relevant with the pro-verb "Wei" in Classical Chinese, Pre-Modern Chinese, and Modern Chinese, they are, nominal "Wei" structures, verbal "Wei" structures, adverbial "Wei" structures, and functional "Wei" structures.Chapter I is the introduction part. We discuss the definition and scope of pro-verbs, make literature reviews, and explain the structure, main points, and research methodology of the thesis.Chapter II lists a number of usages of "Wei+N" structures that were not adopted in Hanyu Dazidian, an authoritative thesaurus on Chinese lexicons, and compares them with the usage of English pro-verb "DO". We also make amendments to the explanations of "Wei" in "Wei+V" structures of Hanyu Dazidian, and argue that the dictionary mistakenly explains this lexicon according to the function of the structure, thus divides a single verb "Wei" into different categories. We argue that the so-called subsequent conjunction "Wei", hypothetical conjunction "Wei", alternative conjunction "Wei", object initialization marker "Wei", and adverb "Wei", are all pro-verb "Wei". The meaning of "Wei" in "Wei+V" structures suggested by Hanyu Dazidian is not its true meaning, but the meaning of the context that the sentence containing pro-verb "Wei" happens to be in.Chapter III discusses three types of "Wei+N" structures, they are, "Wei+ Addressing Noun" structures, "Wei Ren" structure, and "Wei Shi" structures, and argues that all these structures come from the evolution of "Wei" into nominal prefixes within the "Wei+N" structures. Among these three types of structures, "Wei Ren" structure has evolved into a conventionalized nominal structure, "Wei Shi" structures are only nominal in specific sentence patterns, and "Wei+Addressing Noun" structures are only nominal in some specific speech styles.Chapter IV discusses four types of verbal structures consisting of pro-verb "Wei" they are, "Wei Nan" and "Nan Wei", "Yi Wei" and "Ren Wei", four-character "Wei" structures, and "Wei...Suo" structure in Archaic Chinese. The formation of the four types of verbal structures varies. The formation of "Wei Nan" and "Nan Wei" is the result of the interaction between the pro-verb "Wei" and the copular "Wei". "Yi Wei" and "Ren Wei" comes from the omission of the pivot in a pivotal construction containing a pro-verb "Wei". The formation of four-character "Wei" structures are complex.The "Wei...Suo" structure in Archaic Chinese, is actually a pro-verb "Wei" followed by a nominal "Suo" structure.Chapter V discusses the formation of "Adverb of Degree+Wei" structures, including "Ji Wei", "Da Wei", "Guang Wei", "Shao Wei", "Zui Wei", etc. Some of these structures, like "Ji Wei" come from the grammaticalization of the pro-verb "Wei" into the suffix of the adverb; some of these structures, like "Zui Wei", come from the grammaticalization of the copular "Wei" into the suffix of the adverb;other structures, like "Da Wei" and "Guang Wei", come from the interaction of the grammaticalization of both the pro-verb and copular "Wei" into suffix of the adverb.Chapter VI deals with formation of "Wei Zhi" and "Zuo Wei" in Modern Chinese, and the formation of question-clause final "Wei" in Classical Chinese. We argue that "Wei Zhi" and "Zuo Wei" in Modern Chinese all come from the "Wei+V" structures in Classical Chinese. The difference is that "Wei Zhi" comes from a VO structure and "Zuo Wei" comes from a VV structure. As for the question-clause final "Wei" in Classical Chinese, we argue that it comes from a VO structure with question objects being initialized in Classical Chinese.Chapter VI is the generalization and the outlook part.