“区区”的语义演变及其动因机制

The Semantic Evolution of “Ququ” and Its Motivation Mechanism

摘要: “区区”的本义是“微小、少”，在古代汉语中演变出了众多义项，发展到现代汉语后，语义集中表现为“(人/事物)不重要”。本文从历史语言学视角，对“区区”的语义演变进行探析，研究发现，“区区”的语义演变经历了由空间域、数量域到认知域的投射。语用因素、语义的竞争与分工成为其语义演变的重要动因，转喻、隐喻和主观化是其语义演变的重要机制。

Abstract: The original meaning of “Ququ” is tiny and little. Many meanings have evolved in ancient Chinese. After the development of modern Chinese, semantics tend to focus on the fact that people or things are not important. From the perspective of historical linguistics, this paper analyzes the semantic evolution of “Ququ” and finds that it has undergone a process of conceptual mapping from the spatial and quantitative domains onto the cognitive domain. Pragmatic factors, semantic competition and semantic division of labor have become the main factors of its semantic evolution. Metonymy, metaphor and subjectification are the key mechanisms of its semantic evolution.