The idea of an indigenous Chinese grammar

Abstract

ABSTRACT: As Chinese linguistics encounters a more developed general linguistics, two opposite reactions emerged. One is to learn and imitate, while the other is to learn and innovate. As a visionary, William S-Y. Wang (1999) innovates. He rejected purely formal theories such as the Generative Grammar and envisioned an Indigenous Chinese Grammar (ICG) that takes culture into consideration. Echoing Wang's seminal vision, we offer a possible ICG. We focus on the perplexing pair of cai2 才 ('necessary') and jiu4 就 ('sufficient'). Both cai2 and jiu4 have divergent meanings that may be closely related, well related, remotely related, or even dubiously related. (See for example, you3qian2 cai2 jia4 ta1 'Marry him only if he is rich', ta1 cai2 lai2 'He has just come', wo3 cai2 you3qian2 'I am the one that has money', wo3 cai2 bu2 pao4 ne0 'I contrary to anybody's expectation am not afraid'.) Traditional formal theories seem unable to explain this wide range of divergence. But an Emergent Grammar (EG) can. Given a composition, EG enables its two elements to 'interact' into a largely unpredictable result. Free interactions in a specific context produce flexible results, making the derived meanings often unpredictable, as one would expect from a Complex system as opposed to a Complicated system. Realized as a complex-systematic approach to Chinese grammar, Wang's brilliant insight of ICG could well inspire and help launch a fresh advancement path in Chinese linguistics. 摘要: 当中国语言学面临比较先进的一般语言学挑战时，两个对立的反应出 现了。一个是学习与模仿，而另一个是学习与创新。作为一个有远见 的学者，王士元决定要创新。他拒绝了纯粹形式理论，例如生成语法， 而想象一个本土中文语法，能忠实展现底层中国文化特色。响应王的 创新视野，我们提出涌现语法理论，勾画一个可能的本土中文语法。 我们聚焦于令人困惑的"才"与"就"一对词。"才"与"就"都有 广泛的不同的意义。这些意义可能具有密切的，相当的，远程的，甚 或可疑的相互关联。例如，"有钱才嫁他啊""他才来""我才有钱" "我才不怕呢"。传统的形式理论看来无法解释这种广泛的分歧。但 是涌现语法能做到。针对一个复杂表达式，涌现语法使其中的两个成 分进行"互动"，来产生一个基本上不可预测的结果。具体语境中的 自由互动产生灵活的结果，导致派生的词义经常无法预测。 这就如新 的 复 合 系 统 (Complex System) 有 别 于 旧 的 复 杂 系 统 (Complicated System)所期望的一样。一旦实现为一个复合系统路径之后，王有关 本土中文语的真知灼见，很可能激发而促成一个前所未有的中国语言 学前进的新方向。