The Study Of Prepositions In Qimin Yaoshu

Qimin Yaoshu，Record of Buddish temples in Luo-yang and Book ofWaterways are called “The Three Books of Northern Wei Dynasty”, which is theearliest and most complete omnibus work including the agriculture, forestry, animalhusbandry and fishery, and have a high value in agronomy and history. At the sametime, Qimin Yaoshu has a high linguistic value, which is the important material instudying the old Chinese.Chinese ancient time during which the book described was the crucial periodwhen Chinese grammar takes great change, especially the preposition system tendto be simple, some of them gradually be replaced, while some preposition whichfrequently used were reserved; at the same time, there were a large amount ofnew-emerging preposition came into being. There were27prepositions in this book,and their uses were very complete. Therefore it can entirely present the appearanceof the preposition system in ancient Chinese, which is significant to make research.This paper studied prepositions comprehensively and systematically in QiminYaoshu combining quantitative statistics with qualitative analysis on the basis ofprevious research. This thesis divides into three parts. The chapter one is a briefintroduction to Jia Sixie and Qimin Yaoshu, the most popular versions, concerningresearch and the significance and the methods of research. The chapter twoillustrates definition and classification of the prepositions aiming at having a clearunderstanding of its definition, being able to distinguish its part of speech in termsof grammar and further comprehending characteristics of preposition grammars.The chapter three focuses on the general introduction to the common prepositionsand the overall survey to the usage of the various types of prepositions used inQimin Yaoshu. In chapter four, a thorough investigation and analysis has been madeto the newly-emerging prepositions in Qimin Yaoshu so that the grammaticalizationprocess of those prepositions in the mid-ancient Chinese could be fully understood.In chapter five, the prepositional phrases used in Qimin Yaoshu have beenintroduced. The prepositions are generally combined with other word-forms tomake a fixed structure on the process of using. On the basis of representation in detail, the essay aims to make an overall introduction to the characteristics of thepreposition usage in Qimin Yaoshu in order to master the development andcharacteristics of the prepositions in Chinese during the period of mid-ancient timein China.The last part is conclusion, it mainly make a conclusion about the whole thesis.Based on the specific description and analyze of the preposition in Qimin Yaoshu,the paper sums up the function of meaning and grammar of preposition.