本文以臺灣歌仔戲中「活戲」的演出為例，說明「程式語言」（formulaic diction）在口頭文學中的作用。透過演員建立「程式語言」的方式、探討這些常備片語如何在口傳戲劇中靈活的運用。「活戲」又可稱為提綱戲、幕表戲、活詞戲⋯⋯等，臺灣民間職業歌仔戲劇團至今仍保留「活戲」的演出形式。演員只憑藉一個口述的大綱就能上臺演出，並沒有固定文本記錄的唱詞、對白做依據，就如同口頭詩歌的傳唱中，吟唱詩人需要記憶大量的「程式語言」幫助他們的表演，同樣的「程式語言」也成為「活戲」演員表演必備的工具。本文敘述臺灣的活戲演員建立「程式語言」的方式，包括演員必須熟練幾種基本人物的套語類型、掌握特定曲調慣用的歌詞套路、並配合不同情節的需要來活用程式語言等。由於活戲是一種帶有歌唱性質的戲劇表演，因此這些程式語言也必須考慮韻腳、以及歌詞的平仄聲調變化，還有歌詞與曲調結合的關連性。當演員建立了自己程式語言的「詞庫」之後，面對不同的劇目、以及口頭講述的演出大綱，他就能將程式語言靈活地運用在舞臺上。但是當臺灣歌仔戲朝向定型書寫發展，以及新一代歌仔戲演員普遍接受過學校教育之後，常用的「程式語言」慢慢被文字記錄，也許會變為靠「書寫」而流傳，活戲表演終將會逐漸脫離「口傳」而造成本質上的改變。一如隨著社會的變遷和觀眾審美習慣的改變，歌仔戲的「活戲」演出或許不久之後也將會失傳。

This article will exemplify the functions of formulaic diction in oral literature by the example of the use of standardised script in the improvised performance of Taiwanese Opera. By looking at the ways the ways in which the actors established formulaic diction in their performance, this article investigates and demonstrates the tradition of adapting formulatic diction in oral improvised theatres. ‘Improvised Act’ (Huo Xi in Chinese, meaning “living performances”) can also be called ‘summarised script’ (Tigang Xi ), ‘scenario script’ (Mubiao Xi ) or ‘improvised act’ (Huoci Xi ) , etc.. Whichever name it is called, the form of improvised performance is still largely adopted by professional Taiwanese Opera troupes. The actors improvise dialogues and flesh out actions according to a scenario that merely summarise the situations narrated to them orally. Because the actors improvise without a fixed script, their performance is facilitated by memorising fixed formulaic diction the ways medieval troubadours replied on standardised formula in order to memorise the plot. This article demonstrates the historical methods in which the actors of Taiwanese Operas have established their own formulaic diction: the numbers of stock characters the actors need to master, mastery of the routine lyrics for specific tunes and melodies, and the flexibility to adapt formula into different scenarios. The adaption of formula need to factor in the intricacy of rhyming and metrical variation in lyrics, the relavency between lyrics and tunes as improvised act, in nature, is an operatic performance. When she has fully incorperated various formulae into her own ‘vocabulary repertory’, an improvised actor can freely adapt them into different scenarios and summarised plot narrated to her orally. However creative and flexible this kind of improvised performance can be, the improvised performance is gradually on the wane as the new generation of Taiwanese Opera Troupes have now relied on fixed and printed scripts and the new generation of actors are now formally educated in schools. Along with the change of this move from the oral to the literary and printed tradition and the change of the viewing conventions in the contemporary society, the oral form of performance may only be preserved in written records and the improvised performance will be lost soon.