“须、髯、髭、胡子”的历时替换考

A Review on the Diachronic Substitutions for Chinese Characters Xu(须),Ran(髯),Zi(髭) and the Word Huzi(胡子)

"胡须"义从先秦开始用"须""髯""髭"表示。从先秦至明代,"须"都是表示胡须义的主导词。南北朝时期,"胡"的"胡须"义开始萌芽,但发展缓慢,随着汉语词汇的复音化,大约在元代,"胡"加上了词尾"子"来表示胡须义,"胡子"的使用频率从明代开始逐渐增加,到清代超过了旧词"须",并在现代基本实现了对"须"的替换。

＂Xu＂, ＂Ran＂, and ＂Zi＂ were used to express the meaning of beard （ ＂Huxu＂ ） in the Pre - Qin Period. From the Pre - Qin Period to Ming Dynasty, ＂Xu＂ was the dominated word to express the meaning of beard （ ＂Huxu＂ ）. ＂Hu＂ with the meaning of ＂Huxu＂ appeared in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but developed slowly. With the disyllabification of Chinese vocabulary, ＂Huzi＂ was used to express the meaning of beard （＂ Huxu＂） by adding ＂Zi＂ after ＂Hu＂ in Yuan Dynasty. The usage of ＂Huzi＂ gradually increased in Ming Dynasty, and people used more ＂Huzi＂ than the old word ＂Xu＂ in Qing Dynasty. In modern times, ＂Huzi＂ has nearly substituted ＂Xu＂.