Abstract
In this paper, we utilized ChatGPT to quantitatively analyze the emotional coloring of ‘真是’, including the ratio of its positive and negative, neutral usage. Due to the limitations in analyzing a large number of sentences individually, we employed a research method leveraging ChatGPT. The analysis results showed that out of 1000 sentences, 531 (53.1%) exhibited positive emotional coloring, while 451 (45.1%) displayed negative emotional coloring, 18 (1.8%) exhibited positive emotional coloring. This indicates a higher frequency of positive emotional usage compared to the negative connotations suggested by dictionary definitions. This finding significantly contrasts with the definitions of ‘真是’presented in “The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (7th Edition)” and “Eight Hundred Words in Modern Chinese (Revised and Enlarged Edition)”. These dictionaries define ‘真是’ as a verb and idiom expressing negative emotions. However, examination of the CCL corpus reveals that ‘真是’ is not only used in these two ways but also frequently appears as an adverb. This raises the question of why these three usages are not fully defined in the aforementioned dictionaries. The three different uses of ‘真是’ can be viewed as part of a continuous and unified process of language evolution. Language is a tool for human communication, naturally evolving, transmitting, and adapting as people's living environments change. The combination of ‘真’ and ‘是’, originally words with substantial meanings, has evolved into a grammatical function word and further developed into a pragmatic discourse marker as an idiom. This process can be seen as a natural stage in the evolution of language.
Published Version
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