當代口語中「然後」的語意、語用功能有擴大的現象。本文運用語料庫掌握「然後」 高使用率的語境，再以Halliday 篇章系統語言學以及言談分析等作為分析的依據，對高使 用率的語境中的「然後」進行語意、語用功能的描述和分析。最後利用「主觀化」的概念， 說明「然後」的語法化過程及機制。研究結果發現「然後」高詞頻的語境發生在說話人描 敘過去經驗或事件時，而其所銜接的篇章正符合Labov 的敘事結構理論。「然後」的新用 法在語法化的過程中除了展現詞頻和語音變化等語法形態特徵外，在語意上表現出篇章銜 接的語意抽象化，「然後」從承接前後文的時序關係，擴展銜接各種附加、轉折和因果等 關係範疇。在語用上則發展出言談標識功能，作為保持話輪以及當說話者因思考而停頓發 話時所用的修復填補詞。

This paper addresses the use of ranhou’s semantic-pragmatic extension in oral corpus. High frequency shows when speakers have described their experiences or events. The textual coherence by ranhou is in accordance with Labov’s (1972) “structure of narrative”. Furthermore, the change of grammatical category of ranhou, and its grammaticalization process is analyzed within a metaphorical extension, which varies from temporal to cohesive (additive, adversative, temporal, conditional), and; lastly, discourse maker’s function. What is interesting is that ranhou has metaphorical use (conditional) in ancient Chinese; nevertheless, the opposite would apply in modern grammar. However, it shows recurrence in oral communication. This case provides an exception to the principle of unidirectionality promoted by Hopper (1991).