Function words generally refer to words that do not have complete meaning, but have grammatical meaning or function. It has the characteristics that it must be attached to a content word or sentence to express grammatical meaning, and cannot be a separate sentence, cannot be used as a separate grammatical component, and cannot overlap.
Basic explanation of function words
1. [function word, empty word; form word] does not have complete lexical meaning, does not express real meaning, and generally does not form a phrase or sentence except for adverbs A word that has a grammatical or functional meaning. Chinese function words include adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles, interjections, and onomatopoeia.
2. [boastful words]: Boastful words.
Detailed explanation of function words
1. Words that cannot form a separate sentence and have a relatively abstract meaning, but are helpful in making sentences.
2. Empty words; lies.
"Shang Jun Shu·Shen Fa": "The power of his words is the same as those of foolishness and wisdom. If scholars learn from those who speak, then the people will explain the real things and recite function words, and the people will explain the real things and recite function words. Less power rather than more power. "?" Chapter 68 of "A Dream of Red Mansions": "The procuratorate knew the whole story and took the stolen money. When he returned to court the next day, he only said that Zhang Hua was a scoundrel because he owed Jia's silver. He made false accusations and falsely accused a good man."
Sun Li's "The Collection of Xiulu·Reading "Puliu Renjia"": "History is the most upright and fair. There is no need for function words, and even more disgusting with pseudo-words."
Modern function words
Words According to the difference in grammatical functions, they can be divided into two categories: content words and function words. Function words are words that are opposite to "content words". Function words are words that cannot serve as syntactic components alone and have the grammatical meaning of connecting or attaching various content words. According to which content words or phrases can be related to each other and what kind of relationship can occur, function words can be divided into six categories: adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles, interjections and onomatopoeia (see "Summary of the Middle School Teaching Grammar System [Trial]" "). Chinese is a language with particularly rich function words, which is determined by the characteristics of the Chinese language. Chinese function words are closed, including only about 1,000 extremely uncommon ones. Mastering the meaning and usage of hundreds of commonly used function words in Chinese can be said to be the key to learning Chinese well and is of very important value.
Adverbs can modify verbs or adjectives; they cannot modify nouns. 1. Express degree, 2. Express range, 3. Express emotion, 4. Express time frequency, 5. Express negative meaning. Except for no, no, and of course, adverbs generally cannot answer questions alone; adverbs serve as adverbials or complements in sentences; some adverbs can be combined with conjunctions. Prepositions cannot serve as predicates alone; they are often attached to the front of nouns, pronouns, and verbs to form a preposition structure; some prepositions can be attached to the end of a verb to form a whole, which is equivalent to a verb.
Content words are open. The "Modern Chinese Dictionary" compiled by the Dictionary Editorial Office of the Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has more than 50,000 content words, and "Cihai" published by Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House has 90,000 entries. Duotiao, in terms of commonly used words, is about 25,000. The number of function words is much less. As for the function words in modern Chinese, it is about 800, and only about 350 are commonly used.
Although the number of function words is small, their importance is no less important than the content words as a whole, and individually more important than the content words. Some people compare content words to the flesh, bones, and hair of the human body, and function words to the meridians of the human body. Of course, this metaphor is not necessarily appropriate, but it mainly illustrates that although the number of function words is small, it is very important. Because the use of function words often involves the structure of the entire sentence and affects the meaning of the entire sentence. If we cancel certain content words (such as "table", "steamed buns" and "lights"), it will of course have some impact on our speech, but it will not have a big impact, at least it will not affect normal communication. However, if we remove the words "的, 了, ba, no, ye, eh" in modern Chinese, the impact will be great and it will affect normal communication, which is particularly important in Chinese.
Since the number of function words is much less than that of content words, and their importance is no less than that of content words, or even greater than that of content words, the frequency of use of function words in communication is much higher than that of content words. Like "的"、"了", their usage frequency is as high as 3~5%, which is unmatched by any content words. Function words play an extremely important role in various languages, but they are especially important in Chinese. Chinese is analytical in terms of its grammar, which "lacks morphological changes in the strict sense". Chinese does not have the morphological marks and twists and turns found in Russian, French, and English, nor does it have the adhesive forms found in Japanese and Korean. In this way, function words bear more arduous grammatical tasks in Chinese and play a more important grammatical role. Therefore, if we Han people want to improve our cultural level and Chinese literacy, and if foreigners want to learn Chinese, they must pay attention to the use of function words.
It is not easy to use content words well, but it is even more difficult to use function words well. Perhaps for this reason, when talking about refining characters and words, we usually only talk about refining substantive characters and substantive words, but not much about refining function words and function words. In fact, refining function words and function words is a very noteworthy thing in writing. When a function word is used well, it can not only achieve a good expression effect in the sentence in which it is located, but also often enliven the entire paragraph or even the entire text, and achieve unexpected expression effects.
For example, the sentence "The spring breeze turns green again on the south bank of the river" in Wang Anshi's poem "Mooring the Boat on Guazhou" has always been regarded as an example of rhetoric. What's the good thing? Usually we focus on the "green" word. It is said that Wang Anshi originally used the word "to" in the draft, and then changed it to "guo", then to "ru", and then to "man". He changed it more than ten times before finally choosing the word "green". Words (Hong Mai's "Rong Zhai's Continued Biography"). The word "green" is really well used. It cannot be said that it is inaccurate to use "to, pass, enter, man", etc., but the meaning of "green" is much richer. It not only contains the meanings of "to, over, into, full" and other words, but at the same time it is fresher and more vivid than them. Therefore, this "green" character can indeed be regarded as an example of word refinement. However, the function word "you" in this poem is also used very well, but most people ignore it.
Ancient function words
There are 18 classical function words - [er, he, almost, nai, qi, and, if, suo, wei, yan, ye, yi, Because of, in, with, then, who, it].
Ancient function words are words that have no actual meaning in Chinese, and some of them are equivalent to modern function words. Function words cannot form sentences independently and can only be combined with content words to complete the grammatical structure. Function words assist content words, and they include six categories: introduction, connection, helper, exclamation, adverb, and onomatopoeia. The role of function words in couplets is very important. Some couplets are completely wrong just because of the difference of one function word. Clever use of function words can add color and interest to couplets.
Please read the following couplet:
The kindness of the king is like the ocean;
The integrity of the minister is like the mountain.
It turns out that this couplet is a couplet of Hong Chengchou, the governor of Shaanxi in the late Ming Dynasty. There were two empty characters at the end of the original couplet, which read "The kindness of the emperor is like the sea, and the loyalty of the ministers is like the mountains". It is a couplet to express oneself and praise the emperor's kindness. . Later, Hong Chengchou defected to the enemy and betrayed his country, and was despised by others, so someone added the words "矣" and "hu" at the end of the original couplet. The meanings are completely different, making it a wonderful satirical couplet.
Look at this couplet again:
The people are still the same, the country is still the same, how to divide the north and the south;
In short, to sum up, it is not thing.
This couplet was written by Wang Xiangqi to satirize Yuan Shikai, and is called a famous couplet by modern people. The four words "President of the Republic of China" are embedded in the couplet, and "not something" is pointed out at the end of the couplet. The word "ye" in the first couplet and the word "Zhi" in the second couplet are both well used. If the empty words are removed, it will not be called a masterpiece.
Using empty characters to enter couplets was mostly used in ancient ancestral halls and couplets of combined characters and sentences. For example, the couplet of the Zilu Temple in Jining, Shandong:
As a disciple of a saint, if you hear good deeds, you will do it; if you hear something wrong, you will be happy;
How great is the courage of the master, who will rescue when he sees danger and will rescue when he sees justice. for.
[Function]
Used to form sentences and make the meaning of the text neat. For example, ear and eye are real words. If they are paired with the two words "er" and "", they will form "" "Ears and eyes" means active and active. Liu Zhiji of the Tang Dynasty said: "Madam Cardinal's speech is endless, and there must be a complete sentence of Xu sound, which is the beginning and end. Therefore, Yi, Wei, Fu, and Gai are the starting points of the speech; Yan, Zai, and Ye. , Come, it helps to break up sentences. If you remove them, the words will be insufficient, but if you add them, the chapters and sentences will be complete. "("Shi Tong" Volume 6 "Fu Ci") Therefore, ancient books use function words to complete the sentences, and the neat meaning can be seen everywhere. For example, using the word "wei", "Zuo Zhuan·Xiang Gong's Seventeenth Year": "And why is Tian Wei?" "Zuo Zhuan·Xiang Gong's Twenty-Two Years": "Why is Sheng Wei?" "Guoyu·Jin Yu": "will be "What is the purpose of governing?" "Xunzi·Bing": "...What is the purpose of military?" This is all because at the end of the sentence, if the word "为" is not added, it cannot be completed into a sentence. There is also the addition of the word "WEI", "Bai Gong Wei Shi" in "Shu Jing Gao Tao Mo", and "Wujiang Wei Xiu" in "Zhao Gao", only "Shi" and "Xiu" do not form a sentence, so add "Wei" to Make it happen. Then add the word "or", "The Book of Songs·Xiaoya·Tianbao": "Like the luxuriance of pines and cypresses, all of them are or." If this sentence omits the word "or" and only "all of them inherit", the meaning of the text will be hasty and add The word "or" means the tone is relaxed. If the word "Zhi" is added, it can be roughly divided into three types:
1. Adding the word "Zhi" is used in conjunction with sentences to enhance the tone. Chen Shufang of the Song Dynasty said: "Laozi said: '... Tao is born, virtue is brought to animals, grown, nurtured, matured, matured, nourished, and overthrown...'The word 'Dieba' has infinite uses. It's just about using a word to help the ear. "The Book of Songs: Shang Shang Zhe Hua": "Left to the left, the gentleman should take it, right to the right, the gentleman has it, maintains it, and is like it." There are eight "zhi" characters in the six sentences, Obviously, if the word "zhi" is missing, the meaning of the text will be incomplete.
3. Use the word "Zhi" in the sentence to make the sentence neat and tidy, which can be seen everywhere in the "Book of Songs". For example, "The Book of Songs·Xiaoya·First Month": "Looking at the black clouds, whose house is stopping?" Use the word "zhi" to make the sentence neat. There are many words "Zhi" in "The Book of Songs". According to Mr. Li Jinxi's statistics, "The Book of Songs" uses a total of 1,039 words for "Zhi", including 4 verbs, 52 adjectives, 400 pronouns, and 583 prepositions. for the most. (See Li Jinxi's "Essays on Chinese Interpretations") In addition to using zhi as a language aid for the text, zhi is also used for the title of the seal. For example, when Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, saw the "Suzaku Gate" on the forehead of the Kaifeng City Gate, he asked Zhao Pu why he didn't write "Suzaku Gate" and what the use of adding the word was. Zhao replied to help. Seals are also often added with the word "". For example, people in the Han Dynasty prefer to use five characters as the seal. If the position is the prime minister, the seal is the seal of the prime minister. In later generations, the seals are in an even number and are fair. The seals use multiple characters. If a single name is less than four The word is "the seal of the mouth".
(See the article "The words on the forehead of the seal list" in Volume 12 of "Luzhai Shierbian") People still use it today. Another sentence often uses the word zhi and other words to form a sentence. For example, "The Book of Songs·Beifeng·Xiong Pheasant" "The clouds of the road are far away", and "Zhanyin": "The clouds of the people die", only the four words "the road is far" and "the people die" cannot be used to form a sentence, and the two words are added. Words are used to create this, and there are many similar examples in poetry and prose.
Articles must use function words to be written. Liu Qi of the Qing Dynasty said in "Zhuzi Bianlue·Automatic Preface": "The way to compose a text lies in the two ends of the real characters and the virtual characters. The real characters are the bones of the body, and the virtual characters are the temperament. Cover the text with words, take the Xiaoshenli, and resist falling. At that time, Xuanyuan had an affair, and the word "virtual" was good, and he was sentenced to Yan Yue, and Liu Liuzhou (Liu Zongyuan) was offended by Du Wenfu's evil! , and "the function words are multiplied and judged by Yanyue", which fully shows the importance of function words. Originally, "real" and "virtual" have opposite meanings, and opposites are enough to complement each other, just like the opposites of truth, goodness, and beauty are falsehood, evil, and ugliness. Without falsehood, evil, and ugliness, there would be no truth, goodness, and beauty.
Function words come from content words (more details later). They are all borrowed words, such as ye, zhe, 矣, er, er, hu, xie, yan, zai, zhi, yi, yu, etc. Nothing used today has its original meaning. Hao Yixing of the Qing Dynasty said: "Most of the characters in common language words (virtual auxiliary words) do not have the original meaning, but are based on their sounds." ("Erya Yishu·Explanation") Therefore, the function words have an indefinite meaning of the word "Jian", in the sentence It is definitely "Jian", but it is also "Jian" at the beginning of the sentence (such as fa words, turning words) and at the end of the sentence (such as rest words). Whether it is "middle", "first room" or "tail room", it is not its original meaning and has undergone qualitative changes. The changed character cannot be interpreted based on its original meaning, but its meaning can be interpreted based on its location and pronunciation. For example, the word "suo" originally means the sound of cutting wood or lifting wood. Its original meaning is a verb. It is transformed into a noun "place" under the guise of "place", such as police station and health center. It is extended from the place and becomes a function word, such as "to deny the person". The meaning of the word "ruo" has changed qualitatively and has nothing to do with the original meaning.
I have tried to read Liu Qi's "Zhuzi Bianlue", Wang Yinzhi's "Jingzhuanshi" and Yang Shuda's "Ciquan" and other books, but I only know what it is, but I don't know why. They don't explain it. So, even after thinking about it repeatedly while writing this book, I realized why. Zhu Junsheng of the Qing Dynasty said that the fake words are "according to the sound, and the friendship is not in the shape but in the sound. The meaning is not in the words but in the spirit. If the spirit is similar, the original character is not limited, and the sound and shape can be ignored" ("Shuowen Tongxun Dingsheng" "Volume 1 "Borrowing"). For example, "The Book of Songs·Xiaoya·Ting Liao": "How is the night?" "How is it" in "Shang Shu·Weizi" should be pronounced with the voiced pronunciation of the base character. The sound is between "Ji Qi", and if the speech has sound but no words, the function word only takes the sound, or even has only the sound but no words, or is between the sounds of the words. Therefore, "Erya" says: "Void means between. Kong, Po, Zai, Yan, Wu, Zhi, means between words." The so-called "jian" means that the function word is between the characters and sounds, such as between the two characters "Ji Qi" Time, neither base nor its, just pronounce them as voiced sounds. It can be seen that the use of function words in disguise is not in the words but in the sounds. The meaning changes with the sound, and the sound changes at will. Therefore, it is very important to interpret classical Chinese texts in ancient books and understand the functions and pretexts of function words. To grasp the meaning of function words, it is necessary to combine the tone and meaning of the context sentence. It’s not that you care about one meaning, nor can you choose the meaning casually.
Function words are mainly divided into coda words, conjunctions, prepositions, copulas, interjections, pronouns, adverbs, etc. Here I will focus on the codas and connectives in order...(omitted below).
(Excerpted from pages 410-412 of "A Preliminary Study on the Interpretation of Ancient Books - Selected Academic Papers of Huang Xianfan" by Huang Xianfan, Guangxi Normal University Press, July 2004, first edition)