Проблемы китайского и общего языкознания. К 90-летию С. Е. Яхонтова

 602  David Sehnal   condition for omission of the object may be the presence of a negation. In some other cases the object can be retrieved from the semantics of the verb, cf. “shoot [a shot]”. The omitted object is marked with the sign .om , e. g. vt.om . In the translation in most cases of vt.om we must substitute the omit- ted object with the corresponding 3 th person pronoun. But transitive verbs can also carry out the function of intransitive verbs ( Vt > vi ). In such case they express a general verbal action which is not aimed at a certain object. E. g. 不食 bù shí can mean both “he did not eat it” and “he did not eat”. The first meaning corresponds to vt.om , the second one to Vt > vi . In the corresponding entry in the Dictionary I write in such cases: “be engaged in eating”, “eat everything possible” etc. Syntactic functions of transitive verbs attested in the text of Laozi : 1. vt (transitive verb in function of predicative verb with one object) 是 樂殺人 “That would mean that he finds delight in killing others.” (XXXI) 2. vt in conative aspect (transitive verb in function of predicative verb with one object referring to the attempt of performing the given action) 無 為而無不為 “We will do nothing (= we will practise absence of the effort of doing anything positive) and there will be nothing undone.” (XLVIII) 3. vt in inchoative aspect (transitive verb in function of a predicative verb with one object referring to the beginning of the verbal action) 吾 得執而殺之 “We will get the opportunity to detain and execute them.” (LXXIV) 4. vt.om (transitive verb in function of a predicative verb with one omit- ted object) 聽之不聞，名曰 ‘ 希 ’ “We listen to it but do not hear it: this is called ‘diluted’.” (XIV) 5. vt.om in conative aspect (transitive verb in function of predicative verb with one omitted object reffering to the attempt of performing the given action) 執者失之 “Who persists on something (= who tries to hold on some- thing firmly) will lose it.” (XXIX) 6. vtprep (transitive verb in function of predicative verb with one object introduced by a preposition) 善用人者，為 ( wèi ) 之下 “Who excels in em- ploying the others, is lowering himself in behalf of them.” (LXVIII) 7. p assive vt (transitive verb in function of a passive predicative verb whose logical object was transformed into the syntactic subject of the con- struction) 善建者不拔 “What is well established will not be pulled out.” (LIV) 8. medium vt (transitive verb in function of a predicative verb in medium voice whose logical object was transformed into the syntactic subject of the construction) 功成而弗居 “Results were achieved, but they really did not stick to them.” (II)