Syntactic Structures of Proverbs in Taiwan
Southern Min

林惠玲

1. 足少人咧研究諺語的語法結構。
2. 有研究表示，諺語佮普通口語有無仝的語法。
3. 進前台灣話的諺語研究攏佇教育性質頂懸，這篇論文欲探討的是語言本身的表現。

論文研究動機

研究方法

對實用台灣諺語典提語料，每十ê提頭兩ê分析，用三種原則分類語料：略去主要成分、非正式詞序、複雜的句型，會使分做六種句型：

Pattern I: subjectless clauses
Pattern II: objectless clauses
Pattern III: verbless clauses
Pattern IV: object-preposing clauses
Pattern V: topicalization clauses
Pattern VI: complex sentences

1. Subjectless clauses

50% of the data are without subjects (p. 8)

• General: 細膩餓家己：no subjects in the context
• Context(predicate): 食好鬥相報：has subject in the context but not a part of the proverb
• Complex structure: 虎行路/也/會拄眠：two clauses, the omitted subject in the second clause refers to the subject in the first clause

*Subjectless clauses also very common in non-proverb clauses.

2. Objectless clauses

...only about 30 proverbs (4%) have objects omitted. The reference of the omitted object can often be inferred through s-selection of the transitive verb.

• General: 加減趁(錢)，卡袂散：趁s-selects money as its object
• Context: 三暝三日講袂完：the omitted object occurs in the linguistic context
• Complex structure: 欲食胡蠅/家己揜：the omitted object of the second clause may refer to the object of the first clause

口語漢語內底，無物件的情形是足捷出現的；毋閣佇諺語內底，這種情形足少。 (p. 11)

3. Verbless clauses

Verbless clauses are not common (p. 14)

• 你鬼我閻羅：是(be)
• 久長病，不孝子：造成(lead to)

動詞對決定一句話的意思足重要，所以有當時若動詞無去，意思可能會兩交含。

• 生理錢，三十年；流汗錢，萬萬年：開？趁？

4. Object-preposing clauses

800个諺語內底，干焦80个有及物動詞的話有前置物件。 (p. 17)

毋閣，毋是諺語的話，尤其是口頭話，前置物件是足捷看著的。

• Proverb: 王爺馬也敢騎(also subjectless)

5. Topicalization clauses

漢語通常攏予人認為是話題優先的語言。毋閣，諺語內底足少這種情形的。若用嚴格的標準來看(愛有base-generated topics)，資料內底干焦4%是這類的結構；若用較冗的標準來看(將前置物件的句算入來)，嘛增加到12%爾。 (p. 18)

• Base-generated topic: 手巾雙頭澹

6. Complex sentences

About two hundred and seventy items (27%) contain subordinate clauses. About three hundred items (30%) contain coordinate clauses. (p. 19)

• Subordinate clause: 人濟是非濟：人濟→是非濟
• Coordinate clause: 正手入，倒手出：正-反

Different from non-proverbs, proverbs often contain coordinate clauses as in (20) because they are easier to memorize. The coordinate clauses in proverbs do not necessarily involve parallel structures. Under the consideration of rhyming.

• 生贏雞酒芳，生輸四塊枋

Conclusion

• When making comparison with non-proverbs, as a native speaker of TSM, the author relies on intuition to judge the commonness, not exact frequency, of each type of sentence pattern in non-proverbs.
• 一般口語佮諺語所使用的結構較無仝。
• 作者認為，若一句話欲短，閣愛有豐富的意思，就需要較複雜的結構才會使。