The Reserch On The Semantic Evolution Of The Approximate Quantity To Possible Cognitive Modality In Chinese

This paper studies the semantic evolution of "Dagai" "Dayue" "Daban" and "Duoban" from the perspective of syntax,semantics and pragmatics,based on historical data and combined with the development process of each word,so as to investigate the overall evolution of "probably epistemic modality".Finally,the paper makes a further discussion on the semantic evolution motivation and mechanism of the probable epistemic modality in Chinese.The first part is the introduction,which mainly introduces the reason and research value of this paper,the research status and content,the research ideas,research methods and corpus sources.The second part is the semantic origin and diachronic evolution of "Dagai".Through the analysis of the corpus of "Dagai" in different periods,it is revealed that "Dagai" is evolved from the temporary phrase,and the evolution path is attributive-head phrase > noun > adjective > adverb.Finally,the adverbs are used to express the approximate quantity and possible epistemic modality.The third part is the semantic origin and diachronic evolution of "Dayue".Based on the analysis of the use cases of "Dayue" from the Warring States period,it is concluded that the combination of "Dayue" is derived from the temporary phrase composed of the adverb "Da" and the adverb "Yue".The fourth part is about the semantic origin and diachronic evolution of "Daban".Based on the analysis of the corpus of "Daban" in different periods,it is found that the usage of "Daban" in expressing approximate quantity and possible epistemic modality is evolved from two-thirds of the numerals in expressing exact quantity.The fifth part is the semantic origin and diachronic evolution of "Duoban".Through the analysis of the corpus in different periods,we find that "Duoban" conjunctions appear later,and are also evolved from temporary phrases.In the subsequent use process,they gradually become adverbs and are often used to express approximate quantity and possible epistemic modality.The sixth part mainly discusses the common motivation and mechanism of "Dagai" "Dayue" "Daban" and "Duoban" in the process of semantic evolution.There are five reasons for the semantic development and evolution of these words: first,the change of related components in the structural form;second,semantic generalization;third,pragmatic environment factors;fourth,the fuzziness of approximate expression;fifth,the frequency of use.There are two main mechanisms of evolution: metaphor and subjectivization.The seventh part is the conclusion,which is a brief summary of the whole article,and puts forward the deficiencies in the research process and the need for improvement.