July 31, 2022
Source: "Biao Wen Che Zi" magazine
Author: Wei Yu
From the May Fourth period to 1955, there are roughly four ways to write the structural particle de in vernacular texts: de, bottom, ground and de. It should be said that these four writing methods generally have a division of labor, but the division of labor is not clear, not strict, and has not been "deeply rooted in the hearts of the people." As long as we compare the works written by Lu Xun, Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Ba Jin, Lao She, Cao Yu, which everyone respects as "language masters", in those decades, it is not difficult to find that there is no recognized standard for writing de.
In 1956, the Ministry of Education officially implemented the " Temporary Proposed Chinese Teaching Grammar System " (hereinafter referred to as the "Provisional Proposal"), and middle school Chinese classes began to pay attention to grammar teaching. Most middle school students in the thirty years from 1956 to 1986 know that "的" is the marker of attributive, "地" is the marker of adverbial, and "德" is the marker of complement. But this statement changed in 1984. In 1984, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the "Summary of the Grammar System for Teaching in Middle Schools (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Summary") was published. The "Summary" was revised on the basis of the "Temporary Draft". One of the revisions was to combine the structural particles "的" and "地" into one, and write them both as "的". This major change, after several years of deliberation, was finally officially implemented in primary and secondary Chinese language textbooks in 1987.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, relevant parties put forward the slogan of "one syllabus and multiple textbooks" (unified syllabus and diverse textbooks). At that time, there were more than ten sets of influential Chinese textbooks for primary and secondary schools across the country. Some of them talk a little about grammar, some "downplay grammar"; some continue to combine "de" and "地" into one, and some avoid talking about it at all. As a result, nationwide, especially among teenagers, the use of "的" and "地" is confusing and difficult to grasp.
The above is a brief review of the usage of "的" and "地". In fact, several changes were made for good reasons. The "Temporary Draft" stipulates that "use 'de' after the attributive, 'di' after the adverbial, and 'de' before the complement." It seems that the standard is clear and uniform, but there are many problems and contradictions in implementation. A few years later, the linguist Mr. Lu Shuxiang was the first person to suggest that the structural particles "的" and "地" should be combined into one and all written as "的". Mr. Lu put forward the idea of merging "the" and "the place" in the "Chinese Learning Lecture" of the China Correspondence School in 1965 (see Commercial Press "Chinese Learning Lecture Series"). In 1981, he reiterated this idea in the third issue of "Chinese Language Learning". Why combine two into one? There are two main reasons. First, it is to help solve a small but stubborn problem in Chinese language teaching in primary and secondary schools. Students can't figure out where to use "的" and where to use "地", and often use them incorrectly. This causes headaches for students and even more headaches for teachers. If the two are combined into one, this contradiction is resolved. Second, Mr. Lu believes that the division of labor between "的" and "地" began during the May Fourth Movement, mainly due to translation needs. In Chinese, "的" and "地" do not have different meanings, so there is no need to distinguish them in words.
stirred up waves with one stone. From 1980 to 1984, that is, during the process of reflecting on the "Provisional Plan", formulating the "Summary", and promulgating the "Summary", newspapers such as "Chinese Language Learning", " Middle School Chinese Teaching ", and "Beijing Evening News" successively published articles, enthusiastically discussing Mr. Lu's initiative. At that time, many people were in favor of the merger. However, there are many people who oppose the merger. For example, there was an article in the 5th issue of "Chinese Language Learning" in 1982, citing several linguistic examples to prove that "的" and "地" do have different meanings; and pointed out that division of labor is an objective need for the development of Chinese written language. If the two are combined into one, it will be a step backwards. This view cannot be said to be unreasonable, but it is also representative to a certain extent.
In view of the different opinions in the philological community, the "Summary" adopts a cautious and flexible attitude. At the end of the "Summary", a "Note" is added: There is no distinction between "the" and "the place" here, and "the" is used. In the past, no distinction was made, which did not cause confusion. However, the popular method of dividing writing is not without difficulties in teaching, and in fact there are indeed difficult situations. Therefore, based on the suggestions of many teachers, we advocate no separation. However, at present, most newspaper articles and many books are written in separate parts (although improper separation is not uncommon), so there is no hard and fast rule. Those who are willing to write in separate parts can write in separate parts, as long as they are divided correctly (use "的" for the attributive and "地" for the adverbial).
The "note" in "Summary" tells us: ① It is advocated not to divide; ② Those who are willing to write separately can write them separately. The standard for dividing is - use "的" for attributives and "地" for adverbials. However, people have to ask: Is this criterion reliable? The attributive uses "的" and the adverbial uses "地". There are two types of adverbials: the adverbials before verbs, with de, usually use "地"; the adverbials before adjectives, with de, may not use "地". In today's written language, "de" in "adverbial + de + adjective", "de" and "地" are equally matched, and have not yet become "conventional" and unified. For example, "The sky is also so dark, and it is also so cold." For two of them, it probably cannot be said that "earth" must be used, nor can it be said that "'s" must be used? Even "de" in "adverbial + de + verb" does not always have to be written as "地". For example: "He really came." "Generally speaking, prices this year have been stable and declining." At first glance, it completely meets the requirements of using "di" as an adverbial. However, most people will feel very uncomfortable. It is only appropriate to change "truly" to "really" and "general place" to "general".
In summary, the author suggests that relevant departments should consider language habits and summarize more scientific and feasible usages of "的" and "地".
Editor in charge: Yang Na
Forward: Sun Yan
Review: Hao Lin
