The Lexicalization History and Motivational Mechanisms of “Less Than”

“不如”在现代汉语中主要有连词、动词和副词三种用法。结合CCL语料库，从词义拓展及用法演变角度对“不如”的词汇化过程、动因和机制进行分析，结果发现：“不如”最早出现于先秦时期，并引申出“不听从、不遵守”的含义；西汉时期“不如”作为动词出现使用，并在这一时期引申出比较义，但仍未成词；直至唐朝“不如”开始作为连词来使用，完成了词汇化进程。明清时期随着使用频率的不断增高，其词汇化程度也臻于成熟。研究发现，“不如”的词汇化过程中语义泛化、句法位置和使用频率密切关联。“Less than” is mainly used as a conjunction, verb, and adverb in modern Chinese. Combined with the CCL corpus, the lexicalization process, motivation, and mechanism of “less than” are analyzed from the perspectives of lexical expansion and usage evolution, and it is found that “less than” first appeared in the pre-Qin period, and derived the meanings of “not listening to, not obeying” and “not complying with”. The results found that: “less than” first appeared in the pre-Qin period, and derived the meaning of “not listening to, not abiding by”; “less than” appeared as a verb in the Western Han period, and derived the comparative meaning in this period, but it still did not become a word; “less than” began to be used as a conjunction in the Tang dynasty, and the lexicalization process was completed. The process of lexicalization was completed. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the lexicalization of “less than” reached maturity with the increasing frequency of its use. It is found that the lexicalization process of “less than” is closely related to semantic generalization, syntactic position, and usage frequency.