"不如"在上古汉语中从表示比较的动词发展为表示选择的动词,并进一步发展为表示建议的副词。近代汉语中的"还是"、上古汉语中的"其"以及山东方言中的"胜"等也是从比较、选择发展为表示建议的。可见,从比较、选择到建议,是汉语中的一条语义演变路径。这类语义演变背后的一个机制是:构式中部分成分因语境明确而隐含,从而造成另外的部分突显,因此带来了构式意义的变化。
Some words in Chinese have experienced the semantic change from comparison and selection to suggestion,such as"不如"and "其"in Old Chinese,"还是"in Early Modern Chinese,"胜"in Shandong dialect,etc. The mechanism behind this kind of change is the omission of some constituents of the construction,which results in the prominence of other parts of the construction and leads to the change of the constructional meaning.