문두 ‘沒(有)+NP+VP’ 구문에 대한 일고찰 - ‘有+NP+VP’와의 비교를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper reconsiders previous academic discussion on ‘YOU(有)+NP+VP’ subjectless construction as a ‘topic’ structure. Based on this, I explored the information structure and discourse function of ‘MEI(YOU)(没(有))+NP+VP’, which is a negative version of ‘YOU+NP+VP’.<BR> ‘YOU+NP+VP’, as a presentational construction, introduces a new referent into the discourse. Through the investigation in this paper, it was found that ‘MEI(YOU)+NP+VP’, as the negative version of ‘YOU+NP+VP’, fulfils a variety of pragmatic functions through the contradictory structures that present ‘non-existent’ referent. Such functions include: emphasizing negative situations, expressing negative emotions such as ‘discontent’ and ‘lethargy’ and conveying a strong positive meaning.<BR> It is generally believed that the use of negative sentences is more restrictive than affirmative sentences. However, according to the corpus analysis, the use of negative ‘MEI(YOU)+NP+VP’ was more frequent than that of affirmative ‘YOU+NP+VP’. Furthermore, according to different language registers, the distribution of ‘YOU+NP+VP’/‘MEI(YOU)+NP+VP’, the nouns and verbs of each sentence pattern are different.<BR> It can be noticed that language register is an important basis for the investigation of linguistic facts and deserves further attention.