TANGUT PHILOLOGY AND DECIPHERING OF TANGUT SCRIPT
The deciphering of Tangut character script includes two closely related goals: reconstruction of readings of Tangut characters and deciphering of their meanings. There are two kinds of sources - external and internal - for their attainment. The external sources are foreign transcriptions of Tangut characters and bilingual texts which in contents represent translations from Chinese and Tibetan into Tangut. The internal sources of phonetic reconstruction consist of works by Tangut philologists, which have left the description of phonetics of their language in the phonetic dictionaries and phonetic tables. These for deciphering of meanings of Tangut characters and the reconstruction of Tangut grammar are the dictionaries with the description of meanings of characters compiled by Tangut philologists.
The procedure of reconstruction of readings of Tangut characters is based on researches in two areas. One of them is the research into foreign transcriptions of Tangut. Another one is the research into their description of Tangut phonetics in the native phonetic dictionary "Ocean of Characters" made by fanqie and rhymes and into the description of structure of Tangut syllables in the Phonetic tables. The remarkable peculiarity of Tangut reconstruction on the whole is that besides translations from Chinese and Tibetan which as any bilingual texts are the regular source for deciphering there are also descriptions of meanings of characters in Tangut dictionaries made by the Tangut philologists themselves. These descriptions present the most important source for the deciphering. Tangut philologists compiled both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. The monolingual explanatory dictionaries were the phonetic ones, where the words were arranged according to their pronunciation, and the ideological ones, where the words were arranged according to their meaning.
There are following phonetic dictionaries in our disposal:
1. The phonetic dictionary "Ocean of Characters" contains the interpretation of meanings of syllabic morphemes and the explication of graphic structure of their characters, where morphemes are arranged according to their tones and rhymes, their reading being described by the fanqie method. The appendix to this dictionary "Mixed categories of the Ocean of Characters" where the characters with the explication of their graphic structure and interpretation of meaning in the same method as that of the basic text of "Ocean of Characters" are arranged according to initials.
2. The phonetic dictionary "Homophones" contains Tangut syllabic morphemes with the examples of their use, which are arranged according to initials, more precisely, according to classes of their initials.
3. Hand-written vocabulary "Precious rhymes of the Ocean of Characters", where the syllabic morphemes with explication of graphic structure of characters but without fanqie reading and without interpretation of meaning are arranged according to rhymes. This vocabulary in the most general features was described by N. Ä. Nevsky and still not yet published [Nevsky 1960, p. 30, 134-135]. Its importance for reconstruction of Tangut phonetics shall be evaluated in further studies, however it is possible to tell now, that due to it at least the exact number of syllables of ascending tone shall be known.
There are following Tangut ideological dictionaries in our disposal.
1. Vocabulary Zi Za - "Mixed characters" - the ideological monolingual dictionary, where disyllabic dictionary units without interpretation of meaning are arranged according to matter classes.
2. Encyclopedia " Ocean of meanings established by saints" that contains dictionary units of the different size from disyllabic up to septasyllabic with interpretation of their meaning arranged according to matter classes.
3. Bilingual and bilateral Tangut - Chinese dictionary "Timely pearl on the palm", also is the ideological dictionary, where each Tangut word is translated into Chinese, and supplied with Chinese transcription, and each Chinese word supplied with Tangut transcription.
4. Chinese vocabulary without name published in Tangut State Xi Xia, also is the ideological monolingual dictionary intended for Tanguts who had case with China. It belongs to Tangut philological tradition and describes first of all the realities of Tangut state.
None of above dictionaries is complete but on the whole they provide the valuable and almost full material for both phonetic reconstruction and deciphering of Tangut script.
The subject of the description in Tangut phonetic dictionaries is a graphic unit - a character of Tangut script designating a syllabic morpheme - minimal meaningful unit of Tangut. The most complete description in question is represented in the "Ocean of Characters". The entry in this dictionary consists of the full description of both syllabic morpheme and its character: a pronunciation of morpheme by fanqie method, interpretation of its meaning and explanation of graphic structure of its character.
Deciphering of Tangut characters of which the reading and meaning were described in native dictionaries, nevertheless, requires additional efforts because the methods of the description of language developed in Chinese traditional philology were applied here to the language quite different from Chinese. These differences almost invisible in the case of the description of semantics of Tangut characters proved in fact to be essential in the case of their readings. Therefore the uncovering of the way in which the technics of Chinese traditional phonology were applied to Tangut becomes a prerequisite to the systematic reconstruction of Tangut phonetics.
Bibliography
Ä.Ö. Kibrik, S.V. Kodzassov, I.P. Olovjannikova, D.I. Samedov. Opyt strukturnogo opisanija archinskogo jazyka.
(Essay in the structural description of Archin) V. I. M. 1977.
N.A. Nevsky. Tangutskije fonjetichjeskije tablicy. (Tangut phonetic tables) Tangutskaja filologija. V. 1, M. 1960.
N.S. Trubjeckoj. Osnovy fonologii. (Grundzuge der Phonologie) M. 1960.
Gong Hwang-Chern. Xi Xia yunmu xitongde nize (Reconstruction of system of finals in Tangut).
The report at the conference of Institute of a history and philology Academia Sinica. May 10, 1993.
Ma Xueliang. Yizu hongshui gushi changpian yuliao shilie (Story about flood of the people Yizu.
A linguistic material with the comment). Zang-Mian yu xin lun (New studies of Sino-tibetan languages). Pekin, 1994.
Hu Tan, Dai Qingxia. Hani yu yuanyinde song-jin (Tense and lax vowels in Hani). Zhongguo yuwen, 1964, " 1.
THE LOCATION OF LE IN A SENTENCE
- A MYTH OF VERBAL LE AND PHRASAL LE
In Chinese reference books the auxiliary word LE is indexed as LE1 as verbal and LE2 as phrase particle. If in the sentence there is an object, LE1 always stands before the noun and is a perfect marker, LE2 denotes change; both are aspect markers. Before touching the main subject of this paper, it is necessary to make the following statements.
1. Linguists all over the world are inclined to call LE either a perfect marker or a past perfect marker. Detailed inquiry into the function of LE not only as a tense marker but as a word, performing numerous modal functions, does not leave any doubts that LE, as well the other auxiliary words in Chinese build upon system of operators which can be defined as follows:
LE can be qua1ified as a switcher of state of affairs. It is a multifunctional marker -temporal-aspect marker and a modal marker. Any of its functions is connected with the idea of change of a state of affairs. The operation committed by LE supposes two constituents: the informational state of the speaker and the hearer and its sign ~ positive or negative. LE may serve as a past tense marker, but it does not appear in the case, when the past tense of the action was already introduced to the hearer. LE is present only in a discourse - in a declaration statement when the predicate is mentioned for the first time or in an affirmative sentence verifying the fact named by the predicate. But LE is always present when the message concerns the quantity (how much?) and the duration (how long?).
2. When LE serves as a modal marker, it is always positioned in the end of the sentence as any other modal marker. When, the marker is dropped, the sentence still makes sense, but not that which is presumed by the marker. Cf. Zheyang bu xing - "It would not work" and Zheyang bu xing LE - "It would not work anymore".
When LE carries its function as a tense marker it can either follow a verb, an adjective or a noun being located in the end of the sentence, or stick to a verb which is followed by a noun. The verb or phrasal position of LE in this case depend on the character of the speech act: in a report LE might have any position, but in a announcement it is always located in the end; in an affirmation LE functions as a truth marker and always follows the verb; in an explanation, when the answer is located after the verb, LE sticks to the verb.
MORPHOLOGY OF OLD CHINESE
"Old Chinese", more specifically "Classical Chinese" (5th -3rd centuries B.C.) turns out to be a language much more structurally determined by morphological elements than traditionally realized. Being a language of the Indo-Sinitic family ("Sino-Tibetan"), not only its words but also the morphemes can and must be compared to those of other members of the same family. Classical Tibetan has retained more archaic features than others, including Chinese (even in the shape of Middle Chinese). This being so, Old Chinese cannot be reconstructed without constantly consulting Classical Tibetan.
The most important section in this respect is the verbal system. The "variables" that constitute the morphology of the Tibetan verb can be detected in Old Chinese also: affixes (prefixes and suffixes), variation of the first root consonant, "ablaut". Of the prefixes that constitute a number of nominal "classes" (e.g.: g-, d-, b-, m) some can be shown to have existed in Chinese likewise. Even the numerals are likely to have had morphological distinctions.
The present paper is the sequel to several reports on this topic submitted a good many years ago. It ìs intended to summarize some relevant results and to show in which way they affect the understanding of Classical texts.
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND EMOTION WORDS
Description of the methodology which has been elaborated in a research on the glossary of affective lexicon in Chinese literary texts of Ming and Qing periods.
This lexicon has been elaborated by a large team of scholars whose mother tongue was different. To allow a unique and safe selection of lexical items, we built a taxonomical grid to classify words. The grid organized the lexical items in nine fields: proper emotion; generic term; disposition; mood or state of mind; evaluating appellations or epithets or interjections; manifestation, way of representing and conventional gesture; emotional condition and causative term; bodily sensation, "symbolic description"; and chengyu. We defined six macro-areas for the field of proper emotions, describing the basic emotion. We took advantage of serious attempts, like those made by Averill (1975), Ortony, Clore and Foss (1987), Johnson-Laird and Oatley (1989) and Rosch’s hierarchical structure. Thus, we followed the middle level of the categorical model proposed by Rosch, as it allowed us to keep the main differences and at the same time avoided the fuzziness of more detailed subordinated categories. In our model we gave a clear guide to avoid the misconceived effort to find the exact translation of Chinese words into English. The research indicated the affective area of the words, rather than their English translation that certainly is not completely equivalent to the Chinese one.
THE STATUS OF EXCLAMATIVES IN CHINESE
Exclamatives have been treated as a minor type of clause-types in Chinese. The present paper attempts to clarify the status of exclamatives in Chinese and demonstrate that they are distinct constructions.
I will outline the ways of forming exclamatives in Chinese, with a special attention to the different factors that are relevant to marking a clause as exclamative. My intention is to show that the particles used at the end of the exclamatory sentence play a specific role among the various non-homogenous markers.
Based on the literature on exclamatory sentences (Elliott, 1974, Milner 1978, Grimshaw, 1979, Postma 1997, Zanuttini & Portner, 2000) I will discuss the main semantic and pragmatic properties of exclamative clauses and their relevance in Chinese.
My interest focuses on the scalar implicature: hów high-degree quantification occurs at the propositional level and produces the exclamative effect.
These data on Chinese exclamatives are supposed to contribute to a better understanding of the nature of exclamatory constructions, shedding light on the issue of what distinguishes clausal types.
SYNTACTIC PROPERTIES OF SECONDARY PREDICATION IN CHINESE
This talk discusses two types of secondary predicates in Chinese: depictives and resultatives. Each type is represented in either the so-called de-construction, where the functional word de occurs, or the V-V construction, where the verb of primary predication (Vpri hence) is adjacent to the lexical head of the secondary predicate. In the following data, (1) and (3) are in the V-V construction, while (2) and (4) are in the de-construction.
(1) a. Akiu ku lei le.
Akiu cry tired prf
‘Akiu cried and as a result he felt tired.’
b. Akiu da shang le Fanjin.
Akiu beat wound prf Fanjin
‘Akiu beat Fanjin so that Fanjin was wounded.’
c. Akiu ku shi le shoujuan.
Akiu cry wet prf handkerchief
‘Akiu cried and as a result the handkerchief was wet.’
(2) a. Akiu wanr de wang le zuoye.
Akiu play de forget prf homework
‘Akiu played so much that he forgot the homework.’
b. Akiu kua de Fanjin buhaoyisi le.
Akiu praise de Fanjin embarrassed prf
‘Akiu praised Fanjin so that Fanjin felt embarrassed.’
c. Akiu ku de shoujuan ye shi le.
Akiu cry de handkerchief also wet prf
‘Akiu cried and as a result the handkerchief was wet.’
(3) a. Akiu zai huan ying gui-bin. b. Akiu huo zhuo le Nanbatian.
Akiu prog happy meet honored-guest Akiu alive catch prf Nanbatian
‘Akiu is seeing honored guests happy.’ ‘Akiu caught Nanbatian alive.’
(4) a. Akiu hulihutu de mai le yi bao shipin. b. Akiu rere de he le yi wan tang.
Akiu muddled de buy prf one package food Akiu hot de drink prf one bowl soup
‘Akiu bought a package of food muddled.’ ‘Akiu drank a bowl of soup hot.’
To argue for the presence of a Predicate Phrase (PrP), Bowers (1993, 2000) presents evidence of non-primary predication in English. He argues that the subject of a non-primary predicate is base-generated at SpecPrP, and the predicate is base-generated at complement of Pr. Recently, the processing study made by Dubinsky et al. (2000) also concludes that the so-called SC complement is a functional phrase. I will show that the alternation between the de construction and the V-V construction in secondary predication in Chinese gives direct evidence for the occurrence of the functional phrase PrP. I will make the following two claims. First, PrP is either absent or inert in primary predication in languages such as English and Chinese. In non-primary predication, however, Pr is overtly realized by Merge (insertion of a functional word) or Move (attraction of a verb), or neither. The de-construction in Chinese typically realizes the first option, the V-V construction in Chinese the second, and English in general the third. The extra or active projection of PrP in a non-primary predication implies that such a predication, compared to a primary one, is marked in its syntactic structures. Parallel asymmetries can be found elsewhere in syntactic computations (cf. Robert’s (2000) discussion of ForceP). Second, resultatives are hosted by complement PrPs, whereas depictives are hosted by adjunct PrPs. This complement-adjunct asymmetry accounts for a series of syntactic properties of non-primary predication in Chinese compared to that in English: the position of a secondary predicate to Vpri, the mirror image of the orders of depictives between the two languages, and the same co-occurrence patterns.
Zhou Zhenhe
PIDGIN ENGLISH OCCURRING ALONG THE SOUTHEASTERN COAST IN PRE-MODERN CHINA
Topics on pidgin is widely taken into account by scholars since this peculiar phenomena reflects features on the initial stage of cultural communication, especially language contact between different peoples. In China, the pidgin English has existed along the southeaster coast for about three centuries under some special historical background that European missionaries and merchants was launching their careers continuously. At the beginning of learning a different language, there were not many complete materials telling the readers about how to learn the most correct forms of pronunciation, orthography, and grammars. So people often use some words or idioms having been mistaken by them to express their minds. These broken forms of languages have some unique characters such as:
1. he vocabulary is limit, only about 700 along the Southeaster Coast in pre-modern China. Because there are many different meanings on the same word with incorrect usage, for example, people often use "my" instead "I", "we", "mine", "ours" to express the sentences.
2. The philology is simplified. Usually, there are [ i ], [ a ], [ u ] three vowels and fewer consonants in pidgin English.
3. The grammar is also simplified. People often express the words in terms of structures like Chinese sentences, such as "Long time no see you".
When the Pidgin English occurring along the Southeastern Coast was put into the history, we may find that before Pidgin English in Shanghai in 1860 there are also Canton English using by merchants and interpreters. In a book written by Liang Tingshu, the author put forward the name "Canton English". It is a useful material when we make this research. Also, Rev. Samuel Williams recorded a dialogue using Canton English between a foreigner and a Chinese bookbinder in the Chinese Repository. So, if we pay more attention to these historical sources, the research will be better in regard to essence and details.