Distinguishing Problems On Chinese Root And Affix Of Two-syllable Words

This article focuses on the problem of modern Chinese roots and affixes in units of two-syllable words.The thesis analyzes different opinions and perspectives on the problem of roots and affixes by reviewing the research of predeeessors.On the basis of previous studies,we continue the further study of summarizing and describing the nature,the source and the scope of modern Chinese affixes as well as classifying them according to multi-standards and principles.The meanings of modern Chinese affixes are not completely ethereal as that of Indo-European language, on the contrary, many so-called affixes generally have a certain degree of lexical meanings. Some meanings of Affixes are concrete, and some are vacuous.From historical perspective, it is a gradual changing process for the meanings of affixes which is from concrete to vacuous. Baptized and worn down by the long historical river, Only a few typical Chinese affixes has basically fritter away the lexical meaning itself,and can be seen as relatively pure affixes. In addition, there are many atypical affixes introduced from west by means of translation,which have more vigorous vitality.They have great abilities to creat new words, and have a high degree of generalization; The lexical meanings of these affixes are less vacuous than those of typical affixes,but their degree of vacuity are quite different.Therefore,the situation becomes comparatively more complex, which has a great analytical value.This article primarily takes’‘性”、“化”as examples, discussing the characteristics,the meaning and the grammatical function of emerging affixes,thus leads to the definition of "weak root". According to the lexical meaning and the degree of generalization of the morpheme“性”、“化”,the thesis respectively divide性”、“化”included in units of two-syllable words into root, weak roots and affixes, and then makes a detailed description of the meaning of the morpheme“性”、“化”We also analyse the characteristics of two-syllable words"X性”、“X化”as well as internal conditions and limitations of their combination of "X"and morpheme’‘性”、“化”The analysis of morpheme"性”、“化”,illustrates that it is a continuum path for some modern Chinese morphemes to develop from the root to the affix. if we consider the root and the affixes as two ends of the system, then weak root is on the halfway of development from root to affix.