試論“使”“令”表假設用法的演變機制及特徵

This paper discusses the mechanism of the development of shi (使) and ling (令) from causative verbs to hypothetical conjunctions. This development requires 2 prerequisites: (a) an extremely high degree of bleaching of the semantic function of the causative in the shi (使)/ ling (令) sentence in the process of grammaticalization; (b) the syntactic structure of shi (使)/ ling (令) at the beginning of a sentence. This paper demonstrates as well that the two hypothetical conjunctions, mentioned above, are mostly used in situations which have happened already. Such a hypothetical sentence is used mostly to describe an irrealis event. In addition, sentences containing the hypothetical conjunction shi (使) can express situations which are extremely unfavourable to the speaker. This function of shi (使) could probably be the origins of the conjunction jishi (即使). In compound structures, in which shi (使)/ ling (令) are used with other hypothetical conjunctions, their role is to control the function of the conjunction in the sentence.. The features of the two hypothetical conjunctions, discussed in this paper, together with compound structures were retained in Middle Classic Chinese as well.