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Future, Alternatives and Volition: The Origin of Markers of Future Tense and Alternative Questions in Archaic Chinese

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New Perspectives on Aspect and Modality in Chinese Historical Linguistics

Part of the book series: Frontiers in Chinese Linguistics ((FiCL,volume 5))

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Abstract

This article first discusses the future markers 將 jiāng, 且 qiě, and 其 qí in Archaic Chinese; it suggests that these future uses may have been derived from verbs of volition. Similarly, analyses of the use of jiāng, ‘qie, and qí in alternative questions reveal that their origin is also related to their volitional meaning. In addition, the markers of alternative questions in Archaic Chinese 寧 níng, 意 yì, and 抑 yì are being examined; in this context, we will demonstrate that 抑 yì merely functions as a loan for 意 yì. In the last part of the analysis we emphasize the relevance that linguistic studies be carried out systematically.

English translation by Mu Yezi

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The relation between future and volition can also be explained by the fact that the VP expressing the event in the complement of volitional verbs or auxiliaries is frequently in future tense. That is to say, volitional verbs or auxiliaries themselves already contain the semantics of future tense. In Archaic Chinese, such verbs include 圖 tú, 謀 móu, 冀 jì, 望 wàng, 願 yuàn, 欲 yù, 肯 kěn, and 敢 gǎn. Examples of these words are given below:

    1. (i)

      絕雲氣, 負青天, 然後圖南。(zhuāngzì, xiāoyāo yóu)

      Jué__yún__qì,__fù__qíng__tiān,__rànhòu__tú__nán

      Split__cloud__air,__carry__blue__sky,__afterwards__plan__south

      (Fly) beyond the clouds, with the blue sky on the back, and then (it) plans to head to the south.

    2. (ii)

      崔杼與慶封謀殺齊莊公。 (lùshì chūnqiū, shènxíng)

      Cūi__Zhù__yǔ__Qìng__Fēng__móu__shā__Qí__Zhuāng__gong

      Cui__Zhu__and__Qing__Feng__plot__kill__Qi__Zhuang__duke

      Cui Shu and Qing Feng planned to kill Lord Zhuang of Qi.

    3. (iii)

      因釋其耒而守株, 冀復得兔。 (hánfēi zǐ, wǔdù)

      Yīn__shì__qí__lěi__ér__shǒu__zhū,__jì__fù__dé__tù

      Therefore__loosen__plow__CON__guard__stump,__hope__again__get__hare

      Cui Shu and Qing Feng planned to kill Lord Zhuang of Qi.

    4. (iv)

      子路曰: 由願聞其人也。 (kǒngzǐ jiāyǔ)

      Zǐ__lù__yuē__yóu__yuàn__wèn__qí__rén__yě

      Zi__Lu__say:__You__wish__hear__POSS__man__SFP

      Zi Lu said: ‘I would like to hear about his personality.”

    5. (v)

      (趙)高雅得幸於胡亥, 欲立之。 (shǐjì, Biography of Meng Tian)

      (Zhào)__Gāo__yǎ__dé__xìng__yú__Hú__Hài,__yù__lì__zhī

      (Zhao)__Gao__always__get__favour__at__Hu__Hai,__wish__establish__him

      Zhao Gao was always favoured by king Hu Hai who would like to promote him to a higher position.

    6. (vi)

      終風且霾, 惠然肯來。 (shījīng, qífēng, zhōngfēng)

      Zhōng__fēng__qiě__mái,__huì__rán__kěn__lái

      End__wind__and__fog,__smoothly__willing__come

      It has been windy and foggy the whole day, would (he) be willing to come back?

    7. (vii)

      吾敢不敬乎!(zhuāngzǐ yúfù)

      Wú__gǎn__bù__jìng__hū

      I dare NEG respect Q

      How dare I to disrespect him!

    If the volitional verbs are deleted in these sentences, the following VP would not be in future tense. The presence of the volitional verbs results in the following VP having a future sense. Apart from these, verbs of promise, advice, order, assumption, and presumption contain features of future tense, caused by the semantic feature of volition in a promise, advice, and an order.

  2. 2.

    Heine and Kuteva (2002: 310) listed 要 yào as a word derived from verb and developing into marker of future tense.

  3. 3.

    The marker 要 yào in modern Mandarin has the same path of development as yù has in Middle Chinese. The diachronic change from yù to yào as markers of future tense is simply a case of lexical replacement.

  4. 4.

    Zhao Qi 趙岐 in his commentary on mèngzǐ, wànzhāng 2, “子以為有王者作, 將比今之諸侯而誅之乎?其教之不改而後誅之乎?

    Do you think, when the true king appears, he will execute the feudal lords of his respective time? Or he would teach them first and execute those who do not change?

    Interpreted this sentence as “子以為後如有聖人興作, 將比地盡誅今之諸侯乎? 將教之其不改者乃誅之乎?

    Do you think, when later a wise man raises, he will execute the feudal lords of the respective time and place? Or will he teach them and those who do not change he would execute?

    In the original text of mèngzǐ, qí and jiāng are in parallel position. Zhao Qi further used jiāng to explain qí.

  5. 5.

    Based on studies done by foreign researchers, Shi 石毓智 and Bai 白解红 (2007a, b) suggest that there are only three languages in which future tense markers originated from words like ‘take”, and Chinese is one of the three.

  6. 6.

    Shi and Bai 石毓智, 白解红 (2007a, b) did not mention the source of qí’s function to mark future tense.

  7. 7.

    In Shuowen, the character writing jiāng appears with the radica l寸 cùn ‘a unit of length’ explained as ‘high-ranking military officier (帥也 shuài yě)”. There is another variant with the radical 手 shǒu ‘hand’, which is explained as ‘to support with the hand (扶也 fú yě)’. It has been proposed that the two are two variants of one word (異體字 yì tǐ zì), with the radical cùn or shǒu, whose original meaning is related with ‘to hold, to take (持拿 chí ná)”.

  8. 8.

    The uses of (酱) jiàng and jiāng for volition are apparently due to the interchangeability between words of the same or similar pronunciation. Their original meaning has nothing to do with volition.

  9. 9.

    This can be exemplified by shījīng, zhèngfēng: 女曰: ‘觀乎!’ 士曰: ‘既且。

    The lady said: ‘(Let us) visit it!’ The man said: ‘(I) have been there.

    Lu 陸德明 (6th–7th c. (CE) comments, “qiě is pronounced like cú 徂, meaning ‘to go (且音徂, 往也。)”.

  10. 10.

    Yan Shigu commented, “yí 宜 is like dāng 當.”

  11. 11.

    庶几 shù-jǐ itself already implies the link between volition (庶乎 shù-hū) and ‘almost’ (幾乎 jī-hū). Yùpiān, Section guǎng notes, “庶 shù means to hope (庶, 冀也 shù, jì yě).” Gao You 高诱 also glosses shù in the following instance in huáinán zǐ, móuchēng: “句吴其庶乎? The Wu state is very likely to win with jǐ (庶, 幾也).

  12. 12.

    Liu Qi 劉淇’s Qing period zhūzǐ biànluè vol.2 says: 方欲如此而猶未如此者曰將, 故將又通為幾及之辭。

    Jiāng means to be about to be like this, but it is not yet realized, so jiāng is interchangeable with words meaning ‘nearly realized.

  13. 13.

    Please see Heine and Kuteva (2002, pp. 309–310) for details.

  14. 14.

    In the text, A and B are two clauses; ‘SFP” represents a sentence-final particle for mood, and ‘con’ represents an alternative conjunction. Mei 梅祖麟 (1978) points out that in Qin and Han dynasties alternative questions are characterized by the feature that “question words such as 與 yú, 乎 hū, 邪 yé are employed in almost all cases in both clauses/sentences of alternative questions”, and “conjunctions like 抑 yì, 意 yì, jiāng, qiě, qí, and 妄其 wàngqí are frequently inserted.”.

  15. 15.

    Sometimes, the choice is not limited to two options only, like in example (42e). But the original and basic structure of alternative questions is mostly confined to a choice between two options.

  16. 16.

    Alternative variants are 忘其 wúqí or 妄其 wúqí with 忘 and 妄 pronounced as 亡 wú as in 亡其 wúqí. For example:

    1. (i)

      不識三國之憎秦而愛懷邪?忘其憎懷而愛秦邪? (zhànguó cè, zhào cè)

      Bù__shì__sān__guó__zhī__zēng__Qín__ér__ài__huái__yé?__wú__qí__zēng__ér__ài__Qín__yé

      NEG__know__three__state__GEN__hate__Qin__CON__love__Huan__Q?__maybe__hate__Huan__CON__love__Qin__Q?__

      (I don’t know) whether the three states preferred Huai and hated Qin? Or did they prefer Qin and hated Huai?

    2. (ii)

      道固然乎?妄其欺不谷邪? (guóyǔ, yuèyǔ 2)

      Dào__gù__rán__hū?__Wú__qí__qī__bùgǔ__yé

      Way__certainly__be.like__Q?__or__cheat__I__Q

      Is the principle actually like this? Or you are cheating on me?

  17. 17.

    Sima Zhen 司馬貞’s suǒyǐn commtary remarks, “亡 wú is indicative of contempt (亡, 猶輕蔑也 wú, yóu qīng miè yě).” The younger Sima split 亡其 wúqí and regarded 亡 wú as ‘to contempt’; this analysis should not be accepted.

  18. 18.

    Adding wú to qí expressing volition and assumption composes the conjunction wúqí for alternative questions. Similarly, adding wú to jiāng, expressing volition and assumption composes another conjunction 亡將 wújiāng marking alternative questions. For example,

    1. (i)

      不知都之精神在形象邪?匈奴敬畏精神在木也? (lùnhéng, luànláng)

      Bù__zhī__dū__zhī__jīng__shén__zài__xíng__xiáng__yé?__Wú__jiāng__xiōngnú__jìng__wèi__jīng__shén__zài__mù__yě?

      NEG__know__city__GEN__holy__spirit__be.at__statue__Q?__Or__Xiongnu__respect__fear__holy__spirit__be.at__wood?

      I do not know whether it was the holy spirit of the city on a statue? Or the Xiongnu’s mental fear on wood?

    2. (ii)

      不知壽王不得治東郡之術邪?亡將東郡適當復亂而壽王之治偶逢其時也? (lùnhéng, dìngxián)

      bù__zhī__Shòu__wáng__bù__dé__zhì__dōng__jùn__zhī__shù__yé?__wú__jiāng__dōng__jùn__shì__dāng__fù__luàn__ér__wáng__zhī__zhì__ǒu__féng__qí__shí

      NEG__know__Shòu__king__NEG__get__govern__east__shire__GEN__skill__Q?__Or__east__shire__happen__DANG__again__chaos__CON__Shou__king__GEN__govern__accidentally__meet__that__time__Q

      I do not know whether it was the king Shou who did not have the skills to govern the eastern shire? Or whether it was the eastern shire’s rebellion which happened to occur during king Shou‘s’reign?

    3. (iii)

      端端之日有十邪?亡将一有十名也? (lùnhéng, jíshù)

      Duānduān__zhī__rì__yǒu__sān__yé?__Wú__jiāng__yī__yǒu__shí__míng__yě?

      Circling__GEN__sun__have__ten__Q?__Or__one__have__ten__name__SFP

      Are there ten circular suns? Or there is one sun with ten names?

  19. 19.

    Some people misunderstood 意 yì’s function of marking alternative questions. For example, Kong Yingda孔颖达 read this sentence as 武王言黃帝顓頊之道恆在於意, 言意恆念之, 但其道超忽已遠, 亦恍惚不可得見與?

    King Wu said that the Dao or philosophy of emperor Huang, Zhuan Xu, is always on their mind, which means that the mind should always take it into consideration. However, their Dao or philosophy occurred too early in history thus it became vague and cannot be seen?

    According to Kong’s comment, the sentence’s punctuation should be: (武王)曰: ‘昔黃帝顓頊之道存乎意, 亦忽不可得見與?” instead. As a result, Kong’s opinion should not be accepted. Wang Pinzhen 王聘珍’s dàdài lǐjì jiěgǔ 大戴礼记解诂 followed Kong’s reading without revision (see 1983: 103 and 174, in the edition printed by Zhonghua shuju).

  20. 20.

    Lü 吕叔湘 (2004: 284), Liu (1994: 335), He 何乐士 (2006) and Xiang 向熹 (2010: 99) all regard 意 yì and 抑 yì as two different words. But they did not mention the relation between these two forms.

  21. 21.

    These examples are quoted from Zhang 张玉金 (2011: 239). Since he followed former scholars’ idea regarding 抑 yì as the original word, all comments in brackets are in the form of ‘抑’.

  22. 22.

    This may have been inspired by Qiu 裘锡圭 (1988) who mentioned that “抑 yì posited between two clauses in alternative questions in later ancient Chinese may have been derived from this type of 抑 yì.”.

  23. 23.

    Li 李学勤, Qiu 裘锡圭, and Zhang 张玉金 argued in favor of this hypothesis, whereas Fan 范毓周, Ken-ichi Takashima 高岛谦一, Chen 陈炜湛 and Zhu 朱歧祥 rejected it. Please refer to Zhang 张玉金 (2000) for details.

  24. 24.

    Takashima (1989) regarded 抑 yì in the oracle bone inscription ‘其雨抑不雨 It rains or not rains” as an alternative conjunction. Zhang 张玉金 (2000) claims that Takashima (1989)’s opinion is not correct.

  25. 25.

    Since 意 yì and qí have similar functions, interchangement of them is seldom attested. For example, 意 yì in ‘豈女為之與? 意鮑為之與? Was it you who did it? Or was it Bao who did it? (mòzǐ, míngguǐ) equals qí in ‘而 (汝) 罪歟?其鮑之罪歟? And is that your fault or Bao’s fault?’ (lùnhéng, sìyì). Both the alternative markers 亡其 wúqí (see examples 45–47) and 亡意 wúyì are attested in the ancient literature. One example of 亡意 wúyì can be found in ‘上輔孤主以制群臣, 下養百姓以資說士, 矯國更俗, 功名可立也; 亡意亦捐燕棄世, 東遊於齊乎? For the superiors, assist the lord to control the officials; for the inferiors, treat the common people well to support lobbyists; improve the country’s status and change the customs, thus your fame can be established. Or do you give up Yan and the social life here and move eastwards to Qi?)’ (shjì, Biographies of Lu Zhonglian and Zou Yang). 亡意 wúyì is just like 亡其 wúqí, the function of yì is identical to that of qí.

  26. 26.

    With regard to the sources of jiāng, qiě, qí, wúqí 亡其, níng, yì 意, and yì 抑, former studies believe that they are different in the origins of their development, linguistic features and functions. Please see Li (1990) for details. We suggest that, in Archaic Chinese, the origins of these words are related to volition and that they share similar features and functions. Further investigation should be done on the results of former studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Centre for Chinese Linguistics, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Chirui Hu

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  1. National Tsing Hua University, Institute of Linguistics, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Barbara Meisterernst

Appendix

Appendix

Dates of the texts discussed

  1. I.

    The texts of Early Archaic Chinese (Before A.D. 100)

    • Analects,

    • Chu ci,

    • chǔ silk texts, II

    • dà dài lǐjì,

    • guǎnzǐ,

    • guōdiàn chǔ slip,

    • guóyǔ,

    • hánfēi zǐ

    • Liji,

    • lùshì chūnqiū

    • mèngzǐ,

    • mòzǐ,

    • qīnghuá slip II,

    • shàngbó chǔ slip II,

    • shàngbó chǔ Slips V,

    • shàngbó chǔ Slips VII,

    • shàngshū,

    • shījīng,

    • shuìhǔdì qínmù zhújiǎn,

    • yìjīng,

    • zhànguó cè,

    • zhōu lǐ

    • Zhuāngzì,

    • Zuǒzhuàn.

  2. II.

    The texts of Late Archaic Chinese (B.C. 200–A.D. 200)

    • huáinánzǐ,

    • kǒngzǐ jiāyǔ

    • shǐjì

    • shuōyuàn,

    • xīnshū,

    • xīnxù,

    • hàn xīpíng stone sutra,

    • hànshū,

    • lùnhéng.

  3. III.

    The texts of Middle Chinese (A.D. 200–700)

    • dàchéng bēifēntuólì jīng

    • fóběnxíng jíjīng,

    • hòuhànshū,

    • jìnshū,

    • shìshuō xīnyǔ.

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Hu, C. (2019). Future, Alternatives and Volition: The Origin of Markers of Future Tense and Alternative Questions in Archaic Chinese. In: Meisterernst, B. (eds) New Perspectives on Aspect and Modality in Chinese Historical Linguistics. Frontiers in Chinese Linguistics, vol 5. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1948-8_3

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