旁称代词“别人”的产生和发展

Evolution of the Third-person Indefinite Pronoun "Bie Ren" in Chinese

汉语旁称代词“别人”在南北朝译经中已见用例,隋唐时期,用例逐渐增多。到元明清时期,“别人”已在口语中取代了“他人”的位置。“别人”成为旁称代词系统主要成员后,汉语旁称代词系统出现了由“别人、他人、人家、旁人”构成的新格局。这种格局一直延续到现代汉语中。

Earliest examples of the third-person indefinite pronoun ＂bie ren＂ （lit. other people ） in Chinese were seen in the sutra translation during the Northern and Southern Dynasties （386 -589 ）. During the Sui and Tang periods （581 -907）, more examples were available. Later during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties （1206- 1911 ）, ＂bie ren＂ replaced ＂ta ren＂ in oral Chinese, thereby adding a new component to the system of third-person indefinite pronouns in Chinese that consisted originally of ＂ta ren＂, ＂ren fia＂ and ＂pang ren＂. This was then inherited in modern Chinese.