“不可思议”考辨

Study in the Sourse and Course of "Bu Ke Si Yi"

"不可思议"是佛家语,指思维和言语所不能达到的微妙境界,也可形容事物无法想象或难以理解。大部分辞书认为此词来自《维摩诘经》。查考相关语料可知,这一习见的成语最早出自东汉安世高《佛说大安般守意经卷》,历史上还出现过"难思议"、"不能思议"、"其不思议"、"可不思议"、"岂不思议"等众多形式,但"不可思议"这一形式因易于口头传诵而被广泛使用。它在表示"思维和语言所不能达到的境界"义时,在佛经文献中比较常见;其"不可想象或难以理解"义在现代口语里多用。在词义演变的发展过程中,它由名词性词语转化为形容词性词语,这是由其语义基础和人们的认知心理所决定的。

＂Bu Ke Si Yi＂ （不可思议） is a phrase in Buddhism, refering not only to delicate realm that thoughts and words cannot reach, but also a condition that something is inconceivable for an analogy, or difficult to understand. Most of the dictionaries agree that this customary idiom comes from Vimalakirtinirdesasutra （ 维摩诘经 ）. Based on relevant works, we find that this commonly known idiom first appeared in the An s ＂Buddha-like Ta-Shou Intended by the Volume＂ （佛说大安般守意经卷） in Han Dynasty. Examing （难思议） Neng Si （不能思议）, Q, some relevant corpus, we found that there were ＂Nan Si Yi＂ N＂ , ＂Bu Yi Bu Si Yi＂ （ 其不思议）,＂ Ke Bu Si Yi＂ （可不思议）,＂ Qi Bu Si Yi＂ （岂不思议）, and many other forms in history. However, ＂Bu Ke Si Yi＂ （不可思议） is retained and widely used, for it is easy to remember. Interpreted as ＂the realm that thoughts and words cannot reach＂, this phrase only appeared in Buddhist documents, while in contemporary oral language, difficult to understand＂. In the changes of word phrase, which is determined by the semantic basis it is usually used as ＂inconceivable for an analogy, or meanings, it shifted from a noun phrase to an adjective and people＇s cognitive psychology.