Studies On Prepositive Structure And Related Functional Words Of Zuo Zhuan

Zuo Zhuan, written in the years between 403 B. C. and 386 B. C., i.e., 60 or 80 years later after the last one of the Twelve Dukes of Lu recorded in the book, has been fruitfully studied since the Han Dynasty. This book, however, as one of the typical pre-Qin Chinese literature, involves a great variety of linguistic phenomena, which entail further analyses though much analyzed. This thesis sets its focus on the prepositive structure and some related functional words of the book.Linguistically, the languages of the world can be syntagmatically classified as two types: SVO and SOV, the object of the latter preceding the verb compared with that of the former. In such a case, the prepositive structure reveals itself by its own nature and by comparison with other different languages. But in pre-Qin Chinese, with Zuo Zhuan its representative, this structure becomes manifest in the language itself, for both the prepositive and the postpositive exist though their number is not equal. This phenomenon is interesting and worth investigating. Therefore, this thesis on one hand will synchronically describe those sentences involved and on the other hand will present the explanations, which, as a result, will deepen our understanding ofthe ancient Chinese.This thesis consists of five parts: the introduction, the three chapters of the main body and the conclusion. In the first part, the contents, the author and the writing time of Zuo Zhuan, as well as the researching methods and values for the thesis, are introduced. In the second part, the special usage of the prepositional structure of yu in Zuo Zhuan and the explanations of its origin are discussed. In the third part, the prepositive usage of he is firstly described, then the diversity and the unity of its meaning analyzed, which leads to the proposition that the kernel meaning of he is to indicate question and that its usage is decided by the juxtaposition rules. Such rules can well explain some ambiguous sentences, which justifies their credibility. In the fourth part, the view that the N-yi structure, such as wen wu yi ji zhi, sheng wing yi fa zhi, is essentially object-postposition structure is reinforced. Afterwards, its origin is fully analyzed and traced. At the end of this part, some important derivational usages of it are also included.Although this thesis sets its goal only on the research into the prepositive usages and their origins of yu, he and yi in Zuo Zhuan, the three conclusions in the fifth part can be used to explain many other similar linguistic phenomena. Therefore, this thesis provides to some extent a methodology for the relevant research.