漢語動詞雙音化過程中的形式選擇和功能表現 (Patterns and functions of verbal disyllabification)

Disyllabification is an important change that has been taking place in the history of the Chinese language. In the literature, there has been much discussion of disyllabification. However, we still know very little about what kind of monosyllabic words were replaced by what kind of disyllabic words and the underlying conditions for the choices. In this paper, we explore the disyllabification paths that different kinds of monosyllabic verbs have taken and the functions of different types of disyllabic words. It shows that the semantic features of monosyllabic verbs determine to some degree the patterns of their disyllabification. When a monosyllabic verb is atelic, it tends to undergo disyllabification by forming a verb-object compound, either by adding a verbal element or by adding an object element. When a monosyllabic verb is telic, it tends to undergo disyllabification by forming a verb-result compound, by adding either a verb or a result component. Different patterns of disyllabification tend to have different functions.