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路径 · shift

From seeing to trying

How does “see” come to mean “try”?

Verbs of seeing repeatedly become markers of attempting. Japanese 食べてみる “eat and see”, Korean 먹어 보다, Mandarin 試試看, and the Turkic converb + kör- constructions all say “do it and see” for “try doing it”; Voinov (2013) traces the co-lexification across Eurasia, New Guinea, India, and West Africa.

语义领域
感知情态
形式结构
共词化多动词结构助动词
机制
隐喻转喻语法化语义漂白

阶段

  1. 1

    Visual perception

    SEE + OBJECT

    The verb describes perceiving a physical object with the eyes.

    Voinov 2013: pp. 74–75
  2. 2

    Do and observe

    DO V + SEE (the outcome)

    In a converb or serial-verb chain, SEE takes the preceding action as its scope: perform the action and observe what results.

    时间轴收录
    Mandarin ChineseAinuThai
    Voinov 2013: pp. 76–78
  3. 3

    Attemptive auxiliary

    V-CVB + SEE → TRY V

    The component of physical sight is lost. The construction states that the subject undertakes the action experimentally, without asserting that its goal is achieved — attemptive modality.

    时间轴收录
    JapaneseKoreanMandarin ChineseChagatayTuvanKyrgyzKarakalpakSakha (Yakut)Mongolian (Khalkha)KalmykManchuUzbekTamilEwe
    Voinov 2013: pp. 62–63
  4. 4

    Politeness hedge

    TRY V! → PLEASE V

    In directives, the attemptive marker hedges the assumption that the hearer can comply, and the utterance is read as a softened, polite request.

    时间轴收录
    TatarBashkir
    Voinov 2013: pp. 64–65

跨语言证据

The shift is documented almost exclusively inside multiverb constructions — a converb, infinitive, or serial verb followed by SEE — where the perception verb first means “observe the outcome” and then bleaches into an attemptive auxiliary. In several languages the auxiliary further softens commands into polite requests. The Database of Semantic Shifts catalogues it as shift 36 (see → try), with realizations from Adyghe, Chamalal, Croatian, Japanese, Karaim, Meadow Mari, Mongolian, Serbian, and Tuvan — all Eurasian, against 243 worldwide realizations for its sibling hear → obey (shift 34).

SEE as an attemptive auxiliary after a converb or infinitive

A non-final verb form carries the lexical content and a following SEE verb marks the attempt. The frame recurs across Turkic, Mongolic, Manchu, Korean, and Japanese.

Tuvan · тыва дыл

бижип көр

biži-p kör

自然
try writing
用例

бо хемге балыктап көрдүвүс

bo xem-ge balïkta-p kör-dü-vüs

自然
we tried fishing in this river
直译
we fished in this river and saw
注释
this river-DAT fish-CVB AUX-PST.I-1PL
Tatar · татарча

либретто язып күрмәгән

libretto jaz-ïp kür-mə-gən

自然
one who has not tried writing a libretto
Tamil · தமிழ்

சாப்பிட்டுப் பார்

cāppiṭṭup pār

自然
taste it; try eating
用例

குழந்தை நடக்கப் பார்த்தது

korande nadakka paattadu

自然
the child tried to walk
直译
the child saw to walking
注释
child walk-INF see-PST-3SG.N
Manchu

ᡨᡠᠸᠠᠮᠪᡳ

-me tuwa-mbi

自然
try, try out
用例

ᠰᠣᠯᡥᠣ ᡥᠠᠨ ᡩᡝ ᡝᠯᠴᡳᠨ ᡨᠠᡴᡡᡵᠠᠮᡝ ᡨᡠᠸᠠᠮᠪᡳ

solho han de elcin takūra-me tuwa-mbi

自然
they tried sending an emissary to the Korean khan
直译
they send an emissary to the Korean khan and see (Old Manchu Chronicles, 17th c.)
注释
Korea khan ALL emissary send-CVB see-NPST
Ainu · アイヌ・イタㇰ aynu itak

kar wa inkar

自然
try doing it (〜をしてみる)
用例

henpak conpa an ya pákari wa nukar

自然
try measuring how much there is (計ってみなさい)
直译
measure how many shō there are and see
注释
how.many measure exist Q measure and see

地理分布

每个标记代表一个已记录的语言，颜色对应其例句组；点开可查看该语言的表达。

Converb + SEE auxiliaries Serial verbs & particles Softened directives 多个例句组

Marker positions are approximate cultural centres — they are not territorial claims. Tiles: OpenFreeMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Dark tiles: © CARTO.

历史比较时间轴

展示各语言中表达如何重叠、竞争与更替。悬停色带可查看完整时间范围与注记。

6008001000120014001600180020002200JapaneseJaponic〜てみる 〜てみる (900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary Auxiliary 見る after the -te form, “do and see → try doing”; classical dictionaries cite the use from Heian texts such as Taketori Monogatari. The action is presupposed to be carried out — 食べてみた entails eating happened — where English “tried to eat” does not. Henderson notes a softening effect in polite imperatives.KoreanKoreanic-아/어 보다 -아/어 보다 (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary Auxiliary 보다 “see” after the infinitive, “try (out)”; in directives it leaves the addressee room to decline (Lee 1993). Shown here from its modern documentation; the earlier history is left undated.Mandarin ChineseSino-Tibetan › SiniticV看 “find out” V看 “find out” (950–1900) Stage: Do and observe Post-verbal intransitive 看 with the sense “find out” appears in the Zutangji 祖堂集 (952): 你試説看 “try saying it and find out”. Cheng identifies this as the environment where 看 later grammaticalized.V(V)看 · 試試看 V(V)看 · 試試看 (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary 看 after a (typically reduplicated) verb marks a trial: 試試看 “give it a try”, 嘗嘗看 “taste and see”. Cheng dates the fully attemptive V-看看 reading to Modern Chinese.ChagatayTurkic › Karluk (historical)-A kör- -A kör- (1400–1900) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary Chagatay tap-a kör “try to find it” (Eckmann 1966:144), within the span of the Chagatay literary language.TuvanTurkic › Siberian-(I)p кör- -(I)p кör- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary Auxiliary kör “see” after the -(I)p converb: bižip kör “try writing”. Tuvan dictionaries list the politeness reading of directives as its primary sense.KyrgyzTurkic › Kipchak-(I)p көр- -(I)p көр- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary kïl-ïp kör “try to do it” (Judakhin 1965:428).KarakalpakTurkic › Kipchak-(I)p көр- -(I)p көр- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary šeg-ip kör “try smoking” (Baskakov 1958:337).Sakha (Yakut)Turkic › Siberianкөр көр (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary keten kör “try to put on (clothes)” (Sleptsov 1972:180); the lexical verb appears without the -(I)p converb.TatarTurkic › Kipchak-п күр- -п күр- (1900–2000) Stage: Politeness hedge The dictionary records only the polite-directive sense: bar-a kür “please go” (Ganiev 1998:199). The attemptive reading surfaces in texts — libretto jaz-ïp kür-mə-gən “one who has not tried writing a libretto” (from Musa Dzhalil) — so the softener and the attemptive coexist even where lexicographers missed the latter.BashkirTurkic › Kipchak-п күр- -п күр- (1900–2000) Stage: Politeness hedge The dictionary gives haqlan-a kür as “please be careful” (Uraksin 1996:318); Voinov reports native-writer confirmation of the more literal reading “try to be careful”, so the polite directive still carries the attemptive underneath.Mongolian (Khalkha)Mongolic-ж үз- -ж үз- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary xelž üz “try to speak” (Hangin 1986:572); үзэх “see” after a -ж converb means “try, attempt”.KalmykMongolicүз- үз- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary kütsədž üz-x “try to accomplish it” (Muniev 1977:547).ManchuTungusic-me tuwa- -me tuwa- (1600–1900) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary tuwambi “see, look” as an auxiliary after the -me converb means “try, try out”; already in the seventeenth-century Old Manchu Chronicles: solho han de elcin takūrame tuwambi “they tried sending an emissary to the Korean khan”.UzbekTurkic › Karluk-(i)b koʻr- -(i)b koʻr- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary yeb koʻr “eat and see → try eating”; koʻrmoq “see” after the -(i)b converb (Johanson 2012:760, cited in the ComPLETE overview).TamilDravidian › SouthernV-AVP பார் V-AVP பார் (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary பார் pār “see” after the past participle means “try V-ing” — சாப்பிட்டுப் பார் cāppiṭṭup pār “taste, lit. try eating”; after the infinitive, “try to V” (Schiffman 1999:194–195).EweAtlantic-Congo › KwaV … kpɔ́ V … kpɔ́ (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary The particle kpɔ́, from the verb “see”, adds the meaning of trying to do something: no aha sia kpɔ́ “try some of this wine” (Ameka 2008:169).AinuAinu (isolate, critically endangered)V wa inkar / nukar V wa inkar / nukar (1898–2000) Stage: Do and observe A clause-chained “see” verb after wa “and”: kar wa inkar “do and look”, glossed 「〜をしてみる」 in Kanazawa (1898); Tamura records pákari wa nukar 「計ってみなさい」. Both inkar “look” and nukar “see (it)” serve, and the visual sense stays transparent.ThaiTai-Kadai › Taiลอง V ดู ลอง V ดู (1900–2000) Stage: Do and observe Post-verbal ดู “see” marks an action done for trial: ลองดู “try and see”. The overt verb ลอง “try” still co-occurs, keeping the do-and-see bridge visible.
How to read this timeline
  • Dominant use
  • Emerging use
  • Declining use
  • Approximate range
  • Overlap period (two forms coexist)
Stages
  • 1 Visual perception
  • 2 Do and observe
  • 3 Attemptive auxiliary
  • 4 Politeness hedge

语义演变目录中的相邻演变

语义演变数据库（DatSemShift）中收录的相关源—目标配对。未标注者为已接受的条目。

  • SEE → HAVE EXPERIENCE 9×

    English, Russian, Spanish, Turkic gör-, Akkadian amāru. Voinov treats see = experience as the bridge that lets attempted actions count as things one “sees”.

  • TASTE ↔ TRY 28×

    Bidirectional: English try, German probieren, Russian пробовать, Japanese 試す. A second perception-to-attemptive route beside SEE.

  • SEARCH → TRY 21×

    Ancient Greek ζητέω, French chercher, Italian cercare, Vietnamese tìm.

  • TOUCH ↔ TRY 1× (拟议)

    French tâter.

  • SEE → UNDERSTAND 28×

    English see, French voir, Russian видеть, Turkic gör-. The cognitive branch of the same source verb.

  • SEE → KNOW 16×

    Ancient Greek εἶδον/οἶδα, Latin vidēre beside Icelandic vita, Polynesian kite/ʔite.

  • SEE → FIND 21×

    Akkadian amāru, Swahili -ona, Maori kite. “Find out” is the reading Mandarin post-verbal 看 shows in the Zutangji.

  • SEE → MEET 24×

    Russian видеться, Turkish görmek, Korean 보다 — the social branch.

  • SEE → OBEY 1× (拟议)

    Old Turkic kör- — the same verb behind the Turkic attemptive, heading toward the target of HEAR → OBEY.

参考文献

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