A Study On Noun Suffix (Quasi-Suffix) Denoting Person In Modern Chinese

Suffix in modern Chinese has been studied from different aspects, but most of the studies are from macroscopical and grammtical points of view. In order to have a deeper and more thorough study on suffix, in this thesis we only focus on noun suffix(quasi-suffix) denoting person. Since suffix (quasi-suffix) in Chinese has its special lexical characteristic, we attach great importance to the meaning of etymon and its influence upon the meaning of suffix(quasi-suffix). By studying some aspects of suffix(quasi-suffix) such as the collocation with morphemes and the ability to build words, the following conclusions can be drawn: I, the interior grammaticalized levels of a morpheme which can also be a suffix (quasi-suffix) are very complex. According to the terms of meaning and word-building, a morpheme can be divided into different levels in grammaticalization; and on different levels it embodies different characteristics of either a lexical word or a grammatical word; II, the meaning of etymon has a decisive influence on the of grammaticalized levels of a morpheme; III, the meaning of an etymon has a deep influence on the meaning of the suffixed words and the trait of word-building of suffix(quasi-suffix).