A Study Of Prepositions "yi"(以), "yu"(于), "yu"(於), "hu"(乎) In Huainanzi(《淮南子》)

The present thesis is an attempt to research on the grammar in Chinese classic Huainanzi ( ()H^f-?> ), as it is common knowledge that researches on specific books enjoy the essential and significant position in the study of the history of Chinese. The objective of the study is not only to explore the characteristics of the language in each phase of its development but also to induce the intrinsic laws of the language itself. Therefore, it is imperative to search through the books which were representative in different times in terms of the grammatical features so as to conduct more effective research on the history of the language. Meanwhile, such researches are also an important means that leads to the establishment of new theories.Huainanzi ( (fti^-?^ ) is a significant ancient book of the Western Han Dynasty. The language employed in the book is characteristic of Chinese in the earlier days of the Dynasty. Based on the static description and approached with the integration of quantitative analysis and qualitative investigation, the thesis is a minute and almost exhaustive study of the four prepositions, namely '>/"' (?, 'X'ffi, 'X'(^), "hu"(?) in Huainanzi ( C^fl^J-?^ \ The usage and meaning of each of the words are listed and detailed statistics is given concerning the frequency and times of the word used. It is believed that the statistics and data are able to function as reference to people involved in academic study.Four new findings that are absent in the related study of Huinanzi ( iffiH^-Jr^ ) have surfaced among a series of conclusions of the present research on the four prepositions. They are as follows.1. "SuoyF ($? IU), the disyllabic, was considered to be of dual usage. One was to mean " a thing to be used to"; the other "the reason of something", with ltyi"(^L) used as a preposition under the two conditions. However, there is still a third use according to the present research on Huainanzi ( ((JH^J1?)) ), that is, it means " to take as such "while 'X' (^functions as a verb.2. As was agreed, the words before "yu" (T) and "yu" (^)should be adjectives to suggest comparison. But the research reveals that verbs and verb phrases were employed too and there is one reason to account for the phenomenon. That is, the verbs put before "yun(T) and 'yu" ($?to introduce comparison are identical with them2adjectives in grammatical function. There are two kinds of verbs in this category. Some are adjectives originally but can be used as verbs and followed by objects. They retain the grammatical function of adjectives to refer to degree and are used to show comparison concerning degree or condition. Others are verbs suggesting psychological activities. Both verbs and adjectives representing psychologically activities can be modified by adverbs suggestive of degree. Therefore these verbs are related to degree and can be put before "yu"^) and uyun(^).3. "Yucr (l^lft), the disyllabic, was thought to be used as a connective in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The present thesis persuasively proves that it was employed as a connective in Huainanzi (C^^^F))) and two instances supporting this finding can be found in the book. It can be safely concluded that "yucf'ffiflfc) was used as connective as early as the Western Han Dynasty.4. The compound expression of "yu" (#? and "yT (W) was regarded as being synonymous with "youcf (Efe jfc ) and "yiianyf (SIU) . But it is discovered that in Huainanzi (