Pathways of Lexicalization, Constructionalization, and Grammaticalization in Lexically Vogue Expressions: A Case Study of “（Chelizi）Ziyou”， “Fanersai Wenxue” from Chinese， “（Kabe） don” from Japanese
Wang Xin
School of Asian Languages, Zhejiang Yuexiu University, Shaoxing 312000, China
摘要 “（车厘子）自由”“凡尔赛（文学）”「（壁）ドン」均属于词语型流行语，在演变进程中，其词汇化、构式化、语法化的关系和程序既有同也有异。构式化涵盖词汇化全过程，其中构式化注重图式侧面，词汇化重视结构侧面，语法化则发生在两者之后。在词汇化、语法化路径及界面方面，先词汇化后语法化且语法化部分只是词内成分，是三个个案的共性。“（车厘子）自由”和「（壁）ドン」的微观路径大不相同，但“～自由”和「～ドン」的宏观过程则有很大的共性。而“凡尔赛（文学）”的流行部不发生语法化，与另外两个词有很大差异。“（车厘子）自由”“凡尔赛（文学）”是由词组出发的词汇化，「（壁）ドン」是由小句出发的词汇化。可以说，在语法化上，“（车厘子）自由”和「（壁）ドン」是同类项；在词汇化上，“（车厘子）自由”和“凡尔赛（文学）”是同类项。三者微观路径不同，但“词汇化>构式内成分语法化”的宏观路径一致应该具有普适意义。另外，一般的词汇化可能是渐变的，但流行语的词汇化通常是突变的。这或许可以构成对“词汇化是渐变的”宏观结论的完善。The pathways of change of the three expressions are spelt out as follows: (1) “chelizi ziyou”: “caiwu” (finance)+“ziyou” (freedom) is metonymically constructionalized into a scheme—“the absence of restriction of things in amount”, and idiomatized; and then it is metonymically expanded to cherries, hence an expression further lexicalized, “chelizi ziyou” (cherry freedom); and “ziyou”, the internal element of the lexicalized expression, is being grammaticalized into an affix. (2) As to “fanersai (wenxue)”, the lexicalization of the internal element is followed by that of the expression as a whole, and finally the grammaticalization of the element. (3) 「壁ドン」 (Kabe don): Its lexicalization comes about through abbreviation, ellipsis, and reanalysis of 「手を壁にドンとつく」 (tewokabenidontotuku), and the internal element, 「ドン」 (don), of the lexicalized expression undergoes grammaticalization.What the three cases have in common in terms of pathways of lexicalization, grammaticalization, and their interface, is the sequence of their lexicalization occurring before the grammaticalization, and the part of the internal elements only to be grammaticalized. The pathways of lexicalization in “(chelizi) ziyou” and 「（壁）ドン」 are largely different, yet the grammaticalizations of “~ziyou” and 「～ドン」 are fairly similar in that the grammaticalized is both the vogue part, which distinguishes them from “fanersai (wenxue)” with no such grammaticalization. When the sources of the three expressions are examined, it is found that their paths of lexicalization are typical: The two Chinese expressions are lexicalized from phrases while the Japanese expression from a clause. Thus it can be concluded that “(chelizi) ziyou” and 「（壁）ドン」 are of the same type of grammaticalization, and that the two Chinese vogue expressions of the same type of lexicalization. Their differences in the pathways of change are admittedly not surprising, but their sequence of “lexicalization>grammaticalization of internal elements of a construction” can be of some typological significance.
Abstract：“Innovative uses” in language, an important trigger for grammaticalization, is best seen in the vogue expressions of a language. The expressions could serve as a window to look for the pathways of change in the uses or grammaticalization. This change is generally taken to form a continuum (or a cline) with lexicalization, yet constructionalization, their recent relations, is still to define their relations. This paper is an attempt at an elucidation of the relations by examining the vogue expressions of “(chelizi) ziyou” ([cherry] freedom), “fanersai (wenxue)” (Versailles [literature]) from Chinese, “(Kabe) don” ([壁]ドン) from Japanese. It finds that constructionalization completely overlaps the process of lexicalization. The former makes salient the schematic aspect, the latter the structural. Grammaticalization occurs after the two changes. This finding offers a supplement to the argument posed by Brinton & Traugott which argues that “both lexicalization and grammaticalization are gradual processes” while the lexicalization of vogue expressions is usually abrupt.
王忻. 汉日词语型流行语的词汇化、构式化、语法化的演变路径[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2022, 52(10): 148-160.
Wang Xin. Pathways of Lexicalization, Constructionalization, and Grammaticalization in Lexically Vogue Expressions: A Case Study of “（Chelizi）Ziyou”， “Fanersai Wenxue” from Chinese， “（Kabe） don” from Japanese. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2022, 52(10): 148-160.
2022, Vol. 52 
