Study Of Subjectivity And Subjectivisation Of High Degree Of Absolute Degree Adverb

The degree adverbs are important grammatical means of expression of degree in Chinese.Absolute degree adverbs are based on empirical criteria,which is inevitably subjectivity.Compared with the objective meaning,we need to get the subjectivity of the speaker that embodied in the discourse.And subjectivity is developed through the subjectivization of language form.This paper attempts to explain the subjectivization in grammaticalization of the high degree of absolute degree adverbs,and analyze how the objective meaning evolve to subjective meaning,or how the weaker subjective meaning is enhanced,then summarize the subjectivity in modern Chinese.This paper chose"? "?""?""?""?""?"as the object of study.The study here consists of two parts:the first part is the case study of specific degree adverbs,the second part is the summary of the subjectivity and the analysis of the motivation mechanism of subjectivization.Case study include three steps:at first,tracing the process of semantic evolution,then analysis the subjectivization,finally,summarizes the subjectivity in modern Chinese.The main conclusions are as follows.In ancient Chinese,"?"and "?"have been used as degree adverb.The adjective "?" extended to degree meaning,appeared in the Historical Records.Due to subjective perspective,it can mean "very" or "slightly".After the Tang and Song dynasties,the high degree became main meaning.In modern Chinese,high degree became the only meaning,with classical Chinese characteristics."?" which means "a large number" extended to "a high degree".The objective quantity extended to the subjective quantity.And the interrogative usage of "??"extended to exclamation usage.Therefore,subjectivity evolved to intersubjectivity.However,exclamation mark,"?" used infrequently until Qing dynasty.In modern Chinese,the adverb "?"which can work as adverbial or degree complement.It can be indictive,exclamation,and interrogative.The adverb"?" can applied to literary genre with affection,hypothetical speech scenario which is more subjective,and communicative conversation which is intersubjectivity."?" was used as a modal adverb in pre-Qin period,meaning "friendly".Then extended to "well",It can work as adverbial,meaning "complete",in Qi Min Yao Shu of Northern and Southern Dynasties.The usage of degree adverb appeared in Tang and Five Dynasties.Then" " can work as exclamation mark since Song and Yuan Dynasties,and reach its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The degree adverb"?"work as increment mark with strong subjectivity in modern Chinese"?" which means "disobey" "fierce",is not frequently used in ancient Chinese.In Yuan dynasty,the degree adverb "?"appeared under the influence of the language contact.Only northern dialect is affected by the Mongolian language at first.After Qing dynasty,"?" becomes one of the most frequently and widely used degree adverb.In modern Chinese,"?" is only used to express the degree,and its original meaning is abandoned."?" can work as adverbial,which is relatively more objective.Also,specific usage of"?"can be emphatic.The structure of "? + v." has laid the foundation of appearance of degree adverb "?".And the compound structure of the "??" in the Song dynasty evolved out of the usage of modal adverb through context absorption,then evolved into degree adverb.In Jin Ping Mei of Ming dynasty,degree adverb "?" appeared,then it been widely used in Qing dynasty.In modem Chinese,the subjectivity of degree adverb"?"shows to be acceptability and closer psychological distance.The degree adverb "?" is reanalyze by "??"and other predicate coordinate structures,and is influenced by the meaning of "outstanding".In modern Chinese,the degree adverb "?"shows to be euphemistically stressed.It means a quite high degree but does not reach a very high degree,which embodies the subjective evaluation of the speaker.Subjectivisation is the motivation and the result of semantic evolution.The motivation of subjectivisation is the pragmatic inference,which listener can infer basing upon the conversation and context,and pragmatic inference induce pragmatic meaning.The mechanisms of subjectivisation include two aspects,which is semantic reorientation and structural reanalysis.