"桃之夭夭"补论——兼论重言词的性质与释义

Supplementary Research on"Tao Zhi Yao Yao(桃之夭夭)":Concurrently Discuss the Characteristics and Interpretation of Reduplicative Words

作为模拟声貌的重言词,一般训释的词都是义域范围广、概括性强的广义词.如《诗经》"桃之夭夭"的"夭夭"以"盛貌"为主要意见.但由于"盛"的词义范围较广,对其理解也有多种不同看法.为了更好地理解重言词的词义,本文以重言词的性质作为基础,提出不同性质的重言词应有不同的词义探寻方法,尤其作为合成词的重言词,其意义往往与单音词相关.结合古人"以重言释一言"的训释体例,"夭夭"词义和单音词"夭"相关,由于"夭"有少、小的意思,因此,"夭夭"的"盛貌"实际指的是"幼嫩的美盛",强调的是一种生命力.

Onomatopoeic and descriptive adjectives in reduplication patterns are usually interpreted and explained by general words,which have broad semantic range and strong generality.For instance,the word“yao yao(天天)”of“Tao Zhi Yao Yao(桃之天天)”in Shijing(the Classic of Poetry),were generally paraphrased to“sheng mao(盛貌)”.And opinions vary on this explanation as“sheng”has a wide range of lexical meanings.Based on the characteristic of reduplicated adjectives,this paper presents that different methods should be applied to explore the meaning of reduplicative words with different characteristics.In particular,when a compound word takes reduplicated form,its meaning usually relates to its monosyllable form.According to the“paraphrasing a monosyllable word with reduplicative binomes(以重言释一言)”rule in traditional exegetics,the lexical meaning of“yao yao(夭夭)”is bound up with its monosylable form“yao(夭)”,“Yao”has a sense of young and tender,therefore the explanation“sheng mao”of“yao yao'actually refers to fresh lushness,revealing the vitality of youth.