“相”字的解析

Analysis of the Chinese Chatacter “XIANG”

本文纠正了《说文解字》对“相”字本义的错误解释,以“相”字为例简略阐述了“引伸义”和“本义”之间的发展关系。“相”字的本义不是“以目观木”,而是“以木代目”。“相”字是从“盲人的手杖”这个本义,引申出“帮助”“辅佐”和“省视”“察看”两大语义系统,它们的读音都应该统读成xiànɡ。“相”字在作为副词时,念xiānɡ。作为副词的“相”字,大致有四种用法。

This paper has pointed out the mistake―incorrect original meaning of the Chinese character Xiang (相) in the dictionary Analyzing Characters compiled by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD25-220). The author has explained the developing relation between 'original meaning' and 'extended meaning of Xiang. The original meaning of Xiang is not 'looking at trees with one's eyes' but 'using a stick as one's eyes'. Based on the original meaning -the blind man's walking stick, Xiang gets some other meanings, such as 'assisting' and 'inspecting'. The character is pronounced Xiàng as a verb, but as an adverb it is pronounced Xiāng, which has approximately four uses.