《说文解字》会意字选定部首的原则探索

An Exploration of the Principles of Choosing the Radicalsfor Associative Characters in Shuowen Jiezi

《说文解字》有44个部首是专为会意字的归部设立的,部首与部内字是互为依存的关系。许慎在对会意字进行归部处理时,要在不同的义符中选择部首。通过考察各字的归部理据及归部特点,推断会意字选择义符(部首)和归部的统一原则是“以类相从”,即把同义类或字义特点相同的一组字,或者意义关系密切、一起表示某个事件或某种状况的一组字,取共同的义符(部首)来归部。

There are 44 radicals in Shuowen which are specially set up for the classification of radicals from different ideograph when Xu Shen classified the associative characters.Investigating the classification rationale and characteristics of each character,the author infers that the unifying principle for the selection of ideograph(radicals)and the classification of associative characters is“arranging characters by category”,that is,a group of characters with the synonymous class and the same semantic characteristics,or a group of words with close meaning to express a certain event or a certain situation together,take the common ideograph(radicals)to classify.