Study On Ancient Chinese In Passive Form With Marks

This thesis is a synchronic and diachronic study with methods from constructiongrammar and grammaticalization theory. Reviewing on passive forms with typicalmarks such as '于','见','为',and '被', the thesis sorts and explains issues of passiveforms in ancient Chinese. The study is about 'description -explanation' and belongs tohistoriography of Chinese grammar. It views Chinese in Ancient and Middle Ages tolate Tang Dynasty.The full text is in four chapters and about 140,000 words.The first is Preface. It looks back the research development of Chinese passiveforms; introduces the definition of 'Chinese Passive Form', the object, value, meaningsof this study, and the grammaticalization theory concerning diachronic development ofpassive forms; and explains the stages of Chinese language history, the scope, goal,language materials and methods of the thesis. Marks in Chinese passive forms arespecial. They are various and different in different time and space. It is possible for amark in different constructions. Moreover, these marks are rich of characteristics inAncient, Middle Ages, Modern Times, and present, and in different dialects. Studyingon Chinese language in Ancient and Middle Ages could be a sound foundation forfurther researches about Modern Times and present. This thesis takes construction andmarks as main clues. Its study and explanation are new with update views and methodsin modern grammar theories such as construction grammar, grammaticalization theory,mark theory, and dynamic language theory.The second chapter focuses on passive marks in Ancient which ended in WesternHan Dynasty. This part is of five sections.Firstly, it comes a review of mark '于'. On the basis of pass study, it puts forwardthe study direction for mark '于' for this thesis.The following three sections are about Shan Dynasty, Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period, and Warring States Period. According to the statistics of uses anddescription of types, these sections show the characteristics of various passive forms,agent objects, passive verbs, and the marked level and distribution. Through study,description and analysis, it establishes category for passive marks in ancient Chinese,and summarizes the showing and functions of these marks.The '于' mark was popular and totally about 57 pieces in Shan and ZhouDynasties. The most typical construction was' V于Agent '. Here passive predicateswere most monosyllable verbs about giving, perceiving, and mentality; the objectsfollowing '于' were nouns without life but powerful, nouns of life, location nouns,abstract nouns, and so on. Among the four counted literature books from Western ZhouDynasty, there are 1239 pieces of '于' marks, and29 pieces are in passive forms takingup 2.3%. Another 28 pieces of '于' marks are found in Oracle and Kin Dynastyliterature, including 2 pieces in special form like '于V' and 1 piece in the form of '见V于N'.There were various passive marks about 664 pieces in Spring and Autumn Periodand Warring States Period. Among the 14 literature we counted, mark '于' was of 390pieces form of 'VP于NP', accounting for59% of the total. Another typical mark '为'was of 177pieces, about 27% of the total: 62 pieces were in '为VP', 5 pieces in '为VP于NP', 99 pieces in '为NPVP', 1 piece in '为·代·VP', 2 pieces in 'NP之所VP', 1piece in '为NP见VP', and 5 pieces in '为NP所VP'. The popular mark '见' was of 84pieces taking up 13%: 69 pieces in '见VP', 14 pieces in '见VP于NP', and 1 piece in'为NP见VP'. Mark '被' was of 7 pieces, about 1% of the total and all in the form of '被VP'. These popular marks were still dominant in Western Han Dynasty. Data from 5literature is about 501 pieces, among which 185 pieces of '于' takes up 37%; 190pieces of '为' accounts for 38% and 104 pieces taking up 21% are in the form of '为NP所VP';116 pieces of '见' is 23% of the total, among them 109 pieces in'见VP' and 7pieces in '见VP于NP'; Mark '被' is found of 10 pieces accounting for 2% and all inthe form of '被VP'.The 5th section is the establishment of category and overview. It illustrates marks of their outstanding characteristics, types, levels, formal features and semanticmeanings.The third chapter studies passive marks in Middle Ages ended in Southern andNorthern Dynasties and Sui Dynasty. It has five sections.This part begins with the current study on Chinese Passive Marks in Middle Ages,especially those about mark '为'.Then it furthers the research for Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei Dynasty, Jin Dynasty,Southern and Northern Dynasties and Sui Dynasty into three sections. The studycounts and explains passive marks with synchronic, diachronic, and comparativemethods. It distinguishes language materials into written in literature books and oral inBuddhist scriptures. Among six literature books from Eastern Han Dynasty, there are713 pieces of passive marks including 427 pieces of'为', 110 pieces of'于', 144pieces of'见'and 32 pieces of'被'. These marks are characterized as follows: firstly,transition from the old was distinguished. Their frequency of occurrence rank as'为'(60%),'见'(20%),'于'(16%), and'被'(4%). The mark'为'jumped to the first butalways with companions;'被'became the least but not in lack. Secondly, co-existencewas common and the pattern was changeable. Except'被', other dominant passivemarks in Ancient were still popular. However their frequency and uses were differentdue to the various types of literature. Mark'于'was leading in the written literaturewhich closed to ancient literature; Mark'见'was the first in'New Theory'. That maybe because the book was of less passive expressions and focused on philosophy andclassics; Mark'为'became primary and enjoyed great development; and mark'被'was in the doldrums and of little development. Thirdly, development of constructionswith different passive marks was unbalanced and various. Mark'为'was mostblooming with many constructions; Marks'于'and'见'were in the trend of shrinking;and mark'被'was rare. It shows from a study on two pieces of Buddhist scriptures thatthe use of passive marks was less but not none. There are totally 18 pieces: 2 pieces ofmarks'于', 12 pieces of mark'为', 4 pieces of'见'and none of mark'被'.There are 902 pieces of passive marks in the five literature books from Wei and Jin Dynasties, including 73 pieces of mark'于', 517 pieces of mark'为', 216 pieces ofmark'见', and 96 pieces of mark'被'. Mark'为'is the main and in 57%; the second ismark'见'for 24%; mark'被'is about 11% and with little growth; and mark'于'was inobvious shaking and only about 8%. Another study on six pieces of Buddhist scripturesshows of 272 pieces of passive marks:12 pieces of mark'于', 210 pieces of mark'为',13 pieces of mark'见', and 37 pieces of mark'被'.Mark'为'takes up 77% and becomesthe large portion. There are 102 pieces of mark'为'in form of'为NP所VP',accounting for 38% of the total and 49% of mark'为'. The use of mark'被'wasdramatically increasing. It was rare in Eastern Han Dynasty. But its occurrencefrequency was up to 14% and mainly in form of'被VP'in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Thiswas a breakthrough and showing great potential of mark'被'. The occurrencefrequency of mark'见'and mark'于'were all around 5%. It is evidenced fromBuddhist scriptures that dominant passive marks had transited to'为'and'被'.The study on 6 literature books from Southern and Northern Dynasties found 722pieces of passive marks, including 21 pieces of mark'于',386 pieces of mark'为', 220pieces of mark'见', and 95 pieces of mark'被'. With a portion of 54% of the total,mark'为'is still the first. There are 364 pieces in form of'为NP所VP', accountingfor 94% of the mark'为'. Mark'见'is the second about 30% of the total. The'VP'followed mark'见'had broad meaning more than'Un-satisfaction'. This constructionwas of more verbs with meaning of'satisfaction'or ones not connecting withsatisfaction. Mark'被'took up for 13% and had no outstanding increase; mark'于'tended to disappear with only 3% of the total. The research result of five pieces ofBuddhist scriptures shows 522 pieces of passive marks: 7 pieces of mark'于',252pieces of mark'为', 52 pieces of mark'见', and 211 pieces of mark'被'. Mark'为'and'被'are evenly matched. The former enjoys little superiority with an occurrencefrequency of 48%, while the latter dramatically increased to 40%. That was mainly dueto the increasing use in Buddhist scriptures in Sui Dynasty. Among four pieces ofBuddhist scriptures from Southern and Northern Dynasties, there are 285 pieces ofpassive marks, in which mark'为'is 156 pieces accounting for 55% of the total. This result is similar with that of literature books. The construction of'为NP所VP'isabout 150 pieces, taking up 29% of the total and 60% of the mark'为'. In a Buddhistscripture from Sui Dynasty, passive marks are 237 pieces including 139 pieces of'被'accounting for 59%. Occurrence of mark'被'increased quickly: 37 pieces of'被V'(27%) and 102 pieces of'被NV'(73%) . Mark'被'had great development in SuiDynasty. Mark'见'had been down to 10%, and mark'于'was only in 1% and quittedfrom the function of introducing agents.Mark'为'was primary in Middle Ages Chinese. It turned to be mark'被'in SuiDynasty.Chapter four is conclusion. It summarizes the characteristics, law and motivationof ancient Chinese passive form development through comparison, summarization,construction grammar and grammaticalization theory. There is also a brief summarywith doubt and clue on issues not yet explored in this paper.