汉语语气副词“最好”溯源

“最好”始见于两晋时期，是由极性程度副词“最”与性质形容词“好”组成的状中短语。起初“最好”可作谓语、定语、补语等，用来对其前后的话语内容进行客观的评价。唐代出现了构式“最好VP”，“最好”在句中充当主语，具有指称性。在主观化、音律规则、VP的语义变化、使用频率等因素的推动下，“最好VP”发生了重新分析，由主谓关系重新分析为状中关系，“最好”表达主观意愿、希望或建议，在宋代开始词汇化为一个语气副词。

Exploration on the Source of the Modal Adverb “Zuihao”

The Chinese word “zuihao” first appeared in the Jin dynasty Period, being a adverbial-head phrase consisting by the polarity degree adverb “most” and the qualitative adjective“good”. Initially, the ”best”can be used as a predicate, attribute, complement, etc, used to describe an objective fact,giving an objective evaluation to the anteroposterior discourse content. The construction “best VP” appeared in Tang Dynasty, ”best” acts as a subject in the sentence, refer to “the best X”. Driven by the subjective,the rhythm rules,the semantic change of VP, frequency of use and other factors, the construction ”best VP” took place re-analyzed, from the subject-predicate relationship to the adverbial-qualifiedword relationship, the“best”express the subjective understanding, position or the recommendations. The “best” was lexicalizated into a modal adverb in the Song Dynasty, completely finished in Qing Dynasty.