“东西”成词及词义演变考

A Study on the Meaning of"Dongxi(东西)"

"东"、"西"由方位名词连用而可泛指四方,又由"四方"义引申可指四方的物产,进而成为各种具体事物或抽象事物的通称。在"东西"凝固成词的过程中,交际语境中人们的随机意向导致了"买卖四方的物产"这一临时性动态词义的激活,认同意向成为词义运动变化的潜在制约力,而联想机制也为义素的变异充当了中介。在表"物品、东西"这个意义上,"物"、"事"、"事物"和"物事"又与"东西"同义。元代"东西"成为南北的通用词,明清时"东西"的使用频率渐超过"物事"发展到现代汉语而与"事物"并用成为表"物品、东西"的常用词,"物事"一词则在吴方言等方言中沿用。

Dong(east) and Xi(west) are nouns of directions,and they can be used together torefer to all the directions or figuratively objects from all directions,and gradually evolvesinto a general term for all the concrete and abstract objects.When expressing the sense'objects or things','shiwu(事物)','wu(物)','shi(事)',and'wushi(物事)'aresynonyms of'dongxi(东西)'.In Yuan dynasty,'dongxi(东西)'was used across China.Inthe period of Ming and Qing dynasties,the word'dongxi(东西)'was much more popularthan'wushi(物事)',and became a common expression in modern Chinese together with theword'shiwu(事物)'.