敦煌变文里的“若”系指代词及相关问题

Pronouns of "Ruo" Family in Dunhuang Bianwen and Related Issues

敦煌变文里的"若"系指代词有指示和疑问两类:变文是最早可见到指示词"惹子"、"日"的文献,"惹(子)"应由"若"音变而来,"日"则大约是"惹子"的缩约音。变文里"若"系疑问代词,较之此前出现了新的组合形式或体现出新的组合特点;变文里的"若为"则绝大多数用于设问,校注者一律看作套语用词是不妥当的。

There are two groups of pronouns of the ＂ruo＂ family in Dunhuang Bianwen, one is demonstrative pronouns and the other interrogative pronouns. The earliest evidence of demonstrative ＂rezi＂ and ＂ri＂ can only be found in Dunhuang Bianwen. The former, ＂rezi＂, was a phonemic variation of ＂ruo＂, which later elided into ＂ri＂. Compared with related forms in earlier periods, pronouns of the ＂ruo＂ family in Dunhuang Bianwen developed their new combinations and new characteristics in structure. The form ＂ruowei＂ in Dunhuang Bianwen serves mainly as an interrogative pronoun, so it is inappropriate for literature interpreters to define it as a meaningless conventional pattern in a sentence.