A Comparative Analysis Of The Durational Adverbs Yixiang(一向)yizhi(一直)and Shizhong(始终)

The durational adverbs yixiang(一向),yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终)have both similarities and differences in syntactic and semantic expression.This article conducts a comprehensive and in-depth comparative analysis of the three from four perspectives:syntactic distribution,the influence of Chinese aspect characteristics,Restrictions on co-occurrence with other adverbs,and co-occurrence with other time components.In terms of syntactic distribution,from the perspective of co-occurrence with predicates,grammatical aspects,modal verb,other adverbs and time words,yizhi(一直)has the strongest co-occurrence,followed by shizhong(始终),and yixiang(一向)has the weakest co-occurrence;From the perspective of co-occurrence word order,yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终)are more flexible than yixiang(一向).In terms of the influence of aspect features,the predicate structure modified by yixiang(一向)represents the persistence of static homogeneity;The predicate structure modified byyizhi(一直)can represent various types such as homogeneous persistence,incremental persistence,or repetitive persistence;The predicate structure modified by shizhong(始终)can only indicate the persistence of homogeneity.In addition,yixiang(一向),yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终)can only co exist with imperfective expressions in the grammar aspect.In terms of restrictions on co-occurrence with other adverbs,this article focuses on discussing the co-occurrence of frequency adverbs,time adverbs,negative adverbs,scope adverbs,and yixiang(一向),yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终).Among them,the repetitive semantics of the frequency adverbsbuting(不停)and buduan(不断)will have an impact on the semantics of’yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终);yixiang(一向),yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终)can only co occur with long-term adverbs;The co-occurrence of the three with the negative adverbs mei(you)(没有)and bu(不)is different,and the scope of the durational adverb and the negative adverb is different,which can also lead to different semantic interpretations of the three;The different objects of the scope adverb dou(都)also have different semantic impacts on yixiang(一向),yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终).In terms of restrictions on co-occurrence with other time components,duration time words and repeated time point time words provide a time range for the events modified by yixiang(一向),yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终),and yixiang(一向)can only be used in the past tense,while yizhi(一直)and shizhong(始终)can be used in the past tense,present tense,or future tense.The term yizhi(一直)can modify the temporal structure,emphasizing that sub events(sub states)lasts for a certain period of time or its implementation process within a time frame,yixiang(一向)and shizhong(始终)do not have this usage.