"已"字源流考——兼及"巳""已" 關係的歷時梳理

A Study of the Origin and Development of the Character"Yi"(已)——with Clarification of the Relationship between the Two Characters"Yi"(已)and"Si"(巳)

常用字"已"的源流有必要予以釐清.通過對出土文獻和傳世文獻中"巳""已"使用情况的歷時清理,得出結論如下:秦漢魏晉時期{已}的記錄形式"已"還未產生,"巳"兼表{巳}{已}二詞;南北朝時期"已"字產生,但"巳""已"使用混亂;隋唐至元"巳""已"繼續混用,同時使用末筆不挑鉤的"巳""已"記錄{巳}的寫法萌芽;明清時期是否"挑鉤"成爲{巳}{已}記錄形式的主要區分標準;晚清民國時期是否"封口"重新成爲主要的區分標準;1953年版《新華字典》將{巳}{已}的記錄形式統一爲"巳""已",此後逐步得以固化普及.{已}記錄形式的產生和最終的規範普及是一個漫長的漢字規範過程.目前對簡帛等出土材料的釋讀應當尊重"巳""已"二字的歷時關係來處理釋文.

In this paper,we had a comprehensive review of the use of the two characters"Si"(巳)and"Yi"(已)in excavated materials and transmitted documents.A few observations were made as follows;first,the graph"yi"(已)did not appear in the Qin-Han texts,during which period the graph"si"(巳)included the two meanings of"si"(巳)and"yi"(已).Second,"yi"(已)started to appear since the Southern and Northern Dynasties but the two graphs were usually mixed up.Third,during Sui and Tang Dynasties until the Yuan Dynasty,two new graph variants appeared as 巳 and 已,both dropped the‘hook’stroke compared to earlier graphs.Fourth,it became a main distinguishing feature whether the two graphs had the stroke‘hook’or not during Ming and Qing Dynasties.Fifth,during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,the encircled component on the top of the graphs became the main distinction again.With the development of orthographic regulations,by the publication of the first edition of Xinhua Dictionary in 1953,the two graphs were standardized as"si"(巳)and"yi"(已)and later gradually became popularized.Based on these observations,we suggest to pay more attention the diachronic change of the relationship between"si"(巳)and"yi"(已)when we make transcription and interpretation of excavated bamboo and silk manuscripts.