“巴”字本源考——兼论甲骨文符号“■”与“巴”的关系

Research on Character Ba( 巴 )——Concurrently Discuss the Relation Between Oracle Symbol “■” and Character Ba

从文献统计和语法分析可确认许慎释"巴"为"虫"或"蛇"缺乏可考依据,先秦文献中的"巴"没有一处可释为"虫"或"蛇",今使用的"巴"的义项也没有一项与"虫"或"蛇"有关。甲骨文符号"■"学术界多采唐兰"巴"说,相关历史、考古等支持该说。从字形看,"■"本义应指臂长、手大,善于攀爬的人,在文献中首先以此特征作为族称、国称,然后作为其长期居地名称,并逐步引申出"紧贴""粘附"等相关意义,这些意义涵盖了"巴"的几乎全部常用义。这一演进线索非常清晰,有充分的文献材料和语用材料的支持。

It can be confirmed by document statistics and grammar analysis that Xu Shen's explanation of ba(巴) into 'insect'or'snake'lacked researchable basis, since no Pre-Qin document translated ba into'insect'or'snake'and the meanings of present ba has nothing to do with'insect'or'snake'.Academia prefers to choose the meaning of ba by Tang Lan for the oracle symbol' ■ ', which is supported by related history and archeology.' ■ 'should refer to longarmed, big-handed man who is adept to climbing by its shape of character, which was first used as clan's and nation's name recorded by documents. It became the name of their long-term residence afterwards, and gradually extended to a few related meanings such as 'close' and 'adhere', which covered most parts of the meaning of ba.There are sufficient document and grammar materials to prove this clear evolution of the specific meaning of ba.