현대 중국어 ‘VV’, ‘V一V’, ‘V一下’의 기능 비교 분석

Abstract

In Chinese, the meaning of ‘VV’, ‘V一V’, and ‘V一下’ is very similar. Many scholars think that ‘VV’ was formed by dropping ‘一’ from ‘V一V’. This is the same origin as the ‘V一下’ structure. Because of this, it is natural that the functions of the three structures appear similar in modern Chinese. However there are some differences in the meaning expansion process. ‘V一下’ has been expanded from action(once) to time(short time) through a metaphorical mechanism, so it retains the meaning of one action until now. ‘V (一)V’ is different in that it explicitly expresses repetition due to its reduplication form. Compared to the ‘V一V’ and ‘V一下’, ‘VV’ has a higher degree of grammaticalization, so it can express habitual, repetitive and even discourse functions. ‘V一V’ shows intermediate characteristics between ‘VV’ and ‘V一下’. All three structures have the meaning of ‘small amount’ in common. It was projected as a lightness of action through a metaphor. Also, in irrealis mood, it developed into the meaning of ‘tentative’. In modern Chinese, such a ‘tentative’ and ‘lightness’ have become the main functions of the three structures. The functions of the ‘VV’, ‘V一V’, and ‘V一下’ structures are similar, but have significant differences. This is evaluated as an important phenomenon to understand the grammaticalization and functional expansion of language components expressing the quantification of motion and time in modern Chinese.