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SYNTACTIC PATTERNS of ZHUANG IDIOMS Somsonge SYNTACTIC PATTERNS OF mainly in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous ZHUANG IDIOMS Region and in Wenshan Zhuang-Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. In addition, there are Zhuang scattered 1 Somsonge Burusphat throughout Lianshan Zhuang-Yao 2 Qin Xiaohang Autonomous County in Guangdong Province, Qiandongnan Miao-Dong Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou Abstract Province, and Jianhua Yao Autonomous County in Hunan Province. Moreover, the This paper describes idioms of the Zhuang language is also spoken by people northern Zhuang language. Zhuang idioms in the southern part of Guizhou and the are analyzed into two major types, based northern part of the Democratic Republic on syntactic structure: trisyllabic idioms of Vietnam. The Zhuang language belongs and polysyllabic idioms. Tri-syllabic to the Tai language group of the Tai-Kadai idioms are short, fixed common expressions language family. It is divided into two consisting of a single predicate. The main varieties, the northern variety and the polysyllabic idioms comprise tetrasyllabic southern variety. This paper describes idioms, pentasyllabic idioms, hexasyllabic idioms that occur in the northern variety of idioms, and heptasyllabic idioms. The the Zhuang language. polysyllabic idioms display four syntactic patterns, i.e., serial pattern, causative Methodology pattern, topicalized pattern, and condensed pattern. Semantically, the The first step was to define idioms. Crystal meanings of Zhuang idioms are not the (1985: 152) defines idiom as follows: sum of their component part but must be metaphorically interpreted as a whole. A sequence of words which is The function of Zhuang idioms is to semantically and often syntactically increase effectiveness and rhetorical force restricted, so that they function as a in oral and literary communication. single unit. From a semantic viewpoint, the meanings of the individual words Zhuang language cannot be summed to produce the meaning of the ‘idiomatic’ expression This paper describes idioms of the Zhuang as a whole. From a syntactic viewpoint, language spoken by the Zhuang people in the words often do not permit the usual China.3 According to Qin (1995), the variability they display in other contexts. Zhuang comprise the largest ethnic minority in China, with a population of 17 millions Based on the definition above, a Zhuang as of 2001. The Zhuang people are found idiom is defined as a word group whose meaning cannot be predicted simply from the meanings of its constituent parts. 1 Professor, Research Institute of Languages Zhuang idioms are similar to Zhuang and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University. proverbs. The difference lies in the syntactic 2 Professor, Central University for structure. That is, Zhuang idioms are a Nationalities, Beijing, PR China 3 single word group typically composed of An overview of the Zhuang language is given nouns, verbs, or adjectives, while Zhuang in Luo (2008). Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:18:31AM via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities, Special Issue No.17, 2009 proverbs contain two or more compound typical of Zhuang idioms. The contrast sentences or clauses, most of which are between Zhuang idioms and Zhuang coordinate. Rhyme is a common feature proverbs is exemplified in Table 1. of Zhuang proverbs, whereas it is not Table 1: Contrastive examples of Zhuang idioms and Zhuang proverbs Zhuang Idiom Zhuang Proverb 55 55 42 44 33 24 21 55 /dai ta:N vu:N tai hau /dei paN kja ndaej dangj vuengzdaeq haeux ndei baengh gyaj, can become emperor rice good rely on seedling, 55 55 24 21 55 21 21 Ti:N ta:N Ti:n lμk ma paN me sieng dangj sien lwg maj baengh meh. want become immortal son grow rely on mother ‘be unsatisfied’ ‘Child’s growth depends on excellent mother.’ The Zhuang idiom has two clauses symbols and Zhuang romanization. The construed as a single word group which word-by-word translation was based on the conveys a metaphorical meaning. The Northern Zhuang-Chinese-Thai-English Zhuang proverb has two compound Dictionary (Burushpat and Qin 2006). clauses which are coordinative without an Additionally, since Zhuang idioms evince overt conjunction. The last word of the fist constructions that are not susceptible to clause, [kja55] gyaj ‘seedling’, rhymes with regular or predictable semantic interpretation, the second word of the second clause, a non-literal semantic interpretation, or the [ma55] maj ‘grow’. meaning of the idiomatic expression as a whole, is provided. The final step was the categorization of Zhuang idioms into types The second step consisted of data using the structuralist approach defined by compilation. The Zhuang data were drawn Trask (1993: 262) as “Any approach to from the second author who is a native linguistic description which views the speaker of the Zhuang dialect of Hawyiengz, grammar of a language primarily as a Mashan County, Guangxi Zhuang system of relations.” Autonomous Region. The data were checked with other native speakers from the same area. The third step involved transcribing the compiled Zhuang idioms in phonetic 46 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:18:31AM via free access Syntactic Patterns of Zhuang Idioms Idiom types This study approaches Zhuang idiom formation from a synchronic perspective. Based on the internal syntactic structure, Zhuang idioms are analyzed into two major types, trisyllabic idioms and polysyllabic idioms. Trisyllabic idioms are distinguished from polysyllabic idioms in that the former have simple syntactic structures, that is, a verb and an object, whereas the latter show more complex syntactic patterns. Trisyllabic idioms Tri-syllabic idioms are short, fixed common expressions used by Zhuang people in everyday life; thus they may be also designated customary phrases.4 Trisyllabic idioms consist of a single predicate, i.e., a verb and an object, that convey a figurative or metaphorical meaning. Customary phrases are terse and vivid, and their metaphors are appropriate, popular, and interesting, as exemplified in Table 2. 4 The term phrase as used in this paper refers to any string of words under consideration, regardless of its syntactic status. It is equivalent to the alternative term sequence. 47 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:18:31AM via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities, Special Issue No.17, 2009 Table 2: Examples of trisyllabic idioms Idiomatic expression Metaphorical meaning 55 42 55 ƒi:u ha:i ˛a:u ‘be an assistant of somebody’ riuj haiz cauj (carry straw sandals for somebody) carry shoes straw 55 33 33 kiN pom loN ‘boast, or brag about’ gingj boemx loengx (too strong or too powerful to roll roll bamboo basket bamboo basket) Polysyllabic idioms can an element be added as [ma24 ta:i24 55 42 24 5 mat ˛ai ta:i lo] ma dai maet caez dai Polysyllabic idioms are expressions lo, nor can any part of it be replaced with consisting of four or more words which another word, such as in [mou24] mou ‘pig’ 24 55 42 24 are not interpreted literally, Semantically, [ta:i mat ˛ai ta:i ] dai maet caez dai. the meanings of polysyllabic idioms in Similarly, it cannot be reduced to Zhuang cannot be derived from the sum of [ma24ta:i24mat55 ta:i24] ma dai maet dai. their component parts; rather, they must be Polysyllabic idioms are also known as set interpreted as a whole. Every polysyllabic phrases. Polysyllabic idioms may be idiom has a surface meaning which is not grouped into four types based on the its real implication. Its real meaning lies number of syllables: tetrasyllabic idioms, inside the polysyllabic idiom. For example pentasyllabic idioms, hexasyllabic idioms, the literal meaning of the polysyllabic and heptasyllabic idioms, as shown in 24 24 55 42 24 idiom [ma ta:i mat ˛ai ta:i ] ma dai Table 3. maet caez dai ‘dog, die, flea, together, die’ is ‘if the dog dies, the flea on the dog dies’, but its metaphorical meaning is ‘we perish together’. Syntactically, polysyllabic idioms have a fixed inherent structure. That is, the structure of a Zhuang polysyllabic idiom is fixed, the order of the constituent elements cannot be arbitrarily changed, and its constituent elements cannot be arbitrarily replaced, added to, or deleted. The polysyllabic 24 24 55 42 24 idiom [ma ta:i mat ˛ai ta:i ] ma dai maet caez dai given above, for example, 55 24 cannot be recast with the order [mat ta:i 5 24 42 24 [lo] is a modal particle placed at the end ma ˛ai ta:i ] maet dai ma caez dai, nor of a sentence to indicate changed circumstances or affirmation. 48 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:18:31AM via free access Syntactic Patterns of Zhuang Idioms Table 3: Examples of polysyllabic idioms Number of syllable Idiomatic expression Metaphorical meaning 21 24 24 44 Four tup ku fo:N ƒe:k ‘resort to a stopgap measure syllables dub gu fong rek detrimental to long-term break pot mend pan interests’ 21 21 24 44 ku ˛ak Tim ti:u ‘have a guilty conscience’ guh caeg sim diuq do thief heart beat 24 55 55 24 pai na jaμ laN ‘be overcautious and bae naj yawj laeng indecisive’ go front look back 21 24 33 33 55 Five ˛uk ƒi:N ma to tik ‘incite one to fight the syllables cug rieng max doxdik other’ tie tail horse kick each other 55 42 55 55 21 Tai hum /bou /dai kau ‘have no way out’ saej humz mbouj ndaej gaeu intestines itch not can scratch 24 33 42 55 42 Six /bo:n hai va:i /bou pan ‘incompetent’ 21 syllables ˛o:N mbon haex vaiz mbouj baenz congh dig dung buffalo not become hole 55 55 55 /dok ˛ak /dok ‘a fool never becomes wise’ ndoek caek ndoek, catfish in pond just be catfish in pond 33 55 33 ha:u ˛ak ha:u haux caek haux catfish in river just be catfish in river Seven vun42 la:i24 tum44 kjau55 va:i42 ‘too many cooks spoil the syllables vunz lai dumq gyaeuj vaiz broth’ people many cook head buffalo 55 21 /bou ˛uk mbouj cug not done 55 55 42 44 /dai ta:N vu:N tai ‘be unsatisfied’ ndaej dangj vuengzdaeq can become emperor 55 55 24 Ti:N ta:N Ti:n siengj dang sien want become immortal 49 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:18:31AM via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities, Special Issue No.17, 2009 The tetrasyllabic idioms occur most rhyme, and alliteration.
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