Study Of The Modal Auxiliaries In Zutangji And Its Grammaticalization

The study on the Chinese modal verbs can be traced back to the end of t he 19th century when the first modern grammar of Chinese-Mashi Wentong-ca me out, it is still insufficient. The objective of this dissertation is to study tho se modal verbs in Zutangji. On the basis of the modern linguistic theories on modality, the synchronic modal meanings and usage and the diachronic evolutio n of those modal verbs will be described and analyzed from a categorical pers pective.The first Chapter of this dissertation is an introduction. The first section i ntroduces the linguistic values of Zutangji. The second section discusses the fo rm and the meaning of modality, which is the theoretical basis of this dissertat ion. According to Lyons and Palmer’s study, we consider that modal verbs, wh ich have the same morphological features, are the core members of the modal category in Chinese. We divide modality of Chinese into three types:Epistemic, Deontic and Dynamic, and subdivide it into three levels according to semanti c strength:Possibility, Probability, Necessity. The third section introduces the p urpose and method of this dissertation.The second Chapter makes an exhaustive description of all the nineteen m ono-syllable modal verbs and twelvepoly-syllable modal verbs in Zutangji, acco rding to the classification mentioned above.Chapter three is a diachronic study on the modals. Most of the mono-syll able modal verbs in Chinese are polysemous. From a diachronic perspective, p olysemy in modal verbs is the result of its semantic development. The first se ction of this chapter discusses the mechanisms of their semantic development; we consider that main mechanism of Chinese modal verbs’s development is me taphor and metonymy.The next two sections discuss the formation of main mo no-syllable modal verbs.Chapter four is the conclusion of the thesis. On the basis of the previous discussion, sum up the evolution and its mechanismof Chinese modal verbs.