A Study On Aspect Marker In Zhuang Dialects

Aspect is an important grammatical category in human languages. Since twenty or thirty years ago, aspect category has been the focus of research by scholars from home and abroad. However, the definition of aspect category in the academic circles is not quite clear, of which the research methods are also different. On the research of aspect category,the documentary materials of Putonghua and Chinese dialects are relatively more plentiful than other different languages in China, but few researches consider the minority languages like Zhuang Language. With the new method of field linguistics,the paper collects the grammatical data from the thirteen idioms and the seventeen localities in north and south Zhuang Dialects. Based on the researchers' achievements(such as Li Fanggui,Zheng Yiqing,Liu Shuxin,Luo Yongxian) on the six different Zhuang Dialects, comprehensively, systematically and deeply,the paper descibes the common aspect categories in the dialects by means of comparing and contrasting,which aims to reveal the synchronic and diachronic characteristics of the aspect category of Zhuang Language. The paper includes the following eight Chapters:The first chapter reviews the research background and trends at home and abroad, with an emphasis on the existing achievements on the aspect category of Zhuang Language as well as the purposes, methods, values and meanings of the research, and then the source of corpus with related explaining.Among the four existing main types of geographical distribution of realized aspect marker in the structure of "V (+O)+As"in Zhuang Dialects,chapter two focuses on three of them by choosing localities,and the fourth is left to be introduced in chapter five.The ending meaning of Chinese verb "le(了)" occupies a position of importance in the expression of the realized aspect of northern Zhuang Dialects,even excludes their own ending meaning verb and restrains its grammaticalization. The restrained ending meaning verb in north dialects develops its cognate realized aspect marker in most south regional dialects. The type of "lo","?e22","pj(?)u42" in idioms of Wuming,Guangnan, Lingyun respectively has expressive function of aspect category and grammatical components of some other grammatical functions,which needs further exploration.In chapter three, morphemes with the meaning of "go(去)","get(获得)","become(成)"in Zhuang Language, comparatively, have various functions,yet they also share distinct commonness. They all act as result complements and phase complements in most Zhuang Dialects and also have common in word order,which follow closely the verbs:V+As (+O) In the process of developing into meaningless marker of realized aspect,the phase complements in various dialects show quite different characteristics. In addition,the three morphemes mentioned above in the dialects have more functions which are worth of further study,and some of them have closed relation to aspect category,such as using the verb which means "get(获得)"to express "exist(存在)".Chapter Four focuses on the past aspect auxiliary in Zhuang Dialects.There are two main derivers of past aspect auxiliaries in Kam-Tai language family. Borrowing the Chinese word "past(过)"is the first type and most Zhuang Dialects belong to this type. The complexity of language contact makes the process of'borrowing very complex, so various functions in the history of Chinese appear in all synchronic levels of modern Zhuang Language,and the special functions of "past(过)"from Chinese dialects also come into Zhuang Language. The second type named moving verbs exists in the words of this family, mainly with the meaning of "wading across the river ". Influenced by the Chinese moving verbs,they develop into the process of parallel grammaticalization. Besides some Zhuang Dialects and Dong-Shui languages, two other Kam-Tai languages on Hainan Island also fall into this type.Chapter five is mainly devoted to the introduction to the isomorphism of perfect aspect and past aspect in Zhuang Dialect in Northwest Guangxi.There exist large differences in continuous aspect auxiliaries in Zhuang Dialects.Some of the auxiliaries result from grammaticalization of the inherent words, but most are borrowed from different local Chinese dialects in the distribution area of Zhuang people. In addition, in different dialects, continuous aspect auxiliaries have great differences in the word order and combination types of predicate.Chapter seven mainly introduces three different types of negative words (general,imperative,and perfective),focusing on their functions in the expression of tense and aspect in Zhuang Language.Chapter eight mainly introduces regular aspect, initial aspect, continuous aspect,which are discussed in the published works. These three aspects in the expression of Zhuang Dialects are closer to the lexical devices, generally low in syntax level.In chapter nine,the expression of aspect category in Zhuang Dialects is closely related with such different levels as system of modal particles, auxiliarieis, and complements.There is also a certain link with another grammatical category of "manner category". The characteristics of aspect marker system in Zhuang language can be observed both by cross-dialectal comparing of the language and by comparing of languages in Kam-Tai language family.The comparison and re-settlement of grammatical forms tend to be a difficult job, but cross-dialect and cross-language comparison can inspire us to think about the diachronic facts in the synchronic phenomena.The significance of the research lies in the following aspects:1) This paper focuses on the special topic of grammar of aspect category of Zhuang language. Based on the describing of aspect auxiliaries in various dialects,it carries out cross-dialectal contrast and comparison about the aspect marker of Zhuang Dialects, which can help to promote study of Zhuang grammar, especially the study of aspect category of Zhuang language;2)The region where Zhuang language distributed is an important "language region". In this region, the close contact of languages attracts the attention of many scholars at home and abroad. Based on the study of "aspect category" of one important language in this region,the paper will certainly help scholars deepen the understanding of this regional language and its characteristics.