A Study On Measure Words In WuDengHuiYuan(五灯会元)

This thesis uses WuDengHuiYuan(revised edition), proofread by SuYuanlei, ZhongHua Press (中华书局) 1989, as the primary language data for the thorough descriptions and analyses of the measure words in it. Based on the full statistics, an investigation is carried out about the system of measure words in WuDengHuiYuan through synchronic description and diachronic comparison.The thesis is made up of four chapters besides the preface and the summary. The preface presents the significance, methods, theories and data sources of the study. Chapter One outlines the current researches about Chinese measure words, gives a definition of measure words according to its structural functions and semantic characteristics and provides a way about the sub-classification of the measure words. Chapter Two, the main body of this thesis, gives some detailed analyses and descriptions of the noun-measure words and the verb- measure words in WuDengHuiYuan. Also we analyze some particular cases and correct some mistakes in the previous studies and HanYuDaCiDian(汉语大词典) . Chapter Three analyses the grammar and semantic characteristics of the measure words in WuDengHuiYuan. Basing on the method of full description, we try to explain some grammar phenomena and make a diachronic comparison about some grammar phenomena. In Chapter Four, we do some diachronic investigations to show the features and draw attention to the changes of the measure words in WuDengHuiYuan. In the end, a conclusion is drawn about the features of the measure words in WuDengHuiYuan.The writing absorbs and makes full use of the latest theories in linguistics, such as grammaticalization theory, metaphor theory in cognitive linguistics, subjectivity and subjectivisation theory.