“龌龊”源流考

Examination of the Origin and Evolution of the Meaning of“Wochuo”(龌龊)

“龌龊”是一个从古至今都在使用的叠韵连绵词。在不同时期,“龌龊”的词形和词义均发生了极大的变化,且这些变化相互之间存在一定的关系。文章认为“龌龊”一词的意义来源于表“廉谨”义的“娕”,后演变出成熟形式“龌龊”。随着时代发展,其意义也由形容人气量狭小、拘于小节引申出某物不干净、脏和形容人品质恶劣等义,用法逐渐灵活多样。此外,文章还简单介绍了“龌龊”一词在古书中的异文情况。

“Wochuo”(龌龊)is a word that is used in both ancient and modern Chinese.The word form and meaning of“Wochuo”(龌龊)have changed greatly in different periods,and these changes are related to each other in some way.This paper argues that the meaning of the word“Wochuo”(龌龊)originated from the word“Chuo”(娕)in the sense of“incorruptible”and evolved into its mature form“Wochuo”(龌龊)through a series of developments.With the development of the times,the meaning of the word“Wochuo”(龌龊)has evolved from the initial description of a person with a small temperament and something unclean or dirty and a sense of sticking to trivialities to describe the poor quality of a person,and its usage has become more flexible and varied.In addition,this article also briefly introduces the word“Wochuo”(龌龊)in the ancient books of foreign languages.