“德”字形义溯源

Explanation of "de(德)"

甲骨文字以道路与视直绳之目会意,取象于取直以修衢道的做法。彳为道路,后引申指道德品行、思想主张。为以目视绳取直,后引申用于评价人的行为。它们意义发展上的相同处为意义的发展提供了方向,加上取直以修衢道与按正道行事有很大的相似性,于是指人的品行操守成为的主要义项。意义的变化促使字形也有相应的演变,加"心"巩固了意义的发展,并使意义表现得更为明晰,因之,德遂成为主要字形。

The character ＂de（ ）＂ of oracle-bone inscriptions consists of ＂chi（彳）＂and ＂zhi（ ）＂.＂chi（彳）＂ means road,＂zhi（ ）＂ means looking rope which is straightened in order to get straight.They have new meanings in the development,＂chi（彳）＂ means thoughts and ＂zhi（ ）＂ means Honest Personality.The similaritiesl point out the direction for the development of de＇s meaning.Building straight road is similar to training honest personality.＂De（ ）＂ means morality with the effect of these factors.The character form has changed according to the meaning＇s development.It adds ＂xin（心）＂ to indicate human character,then ＂de（德）＂ becomes the common form.