两周金文中否定副词“毋”的特殊用法

The Specific Use of the Negative Adverb "毋" in Jin Wen

“毋”作为否定副词,甲骨文中已见,传世文献中出现频率亦较高。过去对它的研究结论基本是认为“毋”用于表示对主观意愿的否定,可以译为“不要”,是一个表示禁止性否定的副词。但是金文中“毋”有较为特殊的一种用法,即用于表示一般性的否定,这种“毋”不能译成“不要”,而是相当于“不、弗”。这种用法有特定的出现场合,即主要出现于修饰助动词“敢”的时候,相应的“敢”也不能理解为通常的含义,而是要理解为“可以”一类义。

As a negative adverb, the word “毋” came first in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions and appeared very frequently in the historical documents.The research of the past basically defined the use of “毋” as the negative use to the subjective will and could be therefore interpreted as ＂don＇t＂, which was an adverb that has a negative meaning in the forbidding range. However,the “毋” in Jin Wen had a specific use which could be used to express a common negative meaning, and this “毋” could should be interpreted as ＂not, no＂ other than ＂don＇t＂. The way of use used to appear in certain situations, that is, the use would often appear while used to modify the auxiliary verb of “敢” ,while the “敢” couldn＇t be comprehended in common ways but as the sort of meaning of “可以”.