士、吉浅论

A Brief Discussion on Shi(士) and Ji(吉)

“士”字来源，目前主要有王、士同源和士、圭同源两种说法。本文从共时与历时的角度，通过对相关文字形体进行梳理，发现王、士同源说并不可靠。而士、圭同源说由于相关文字形体演变脉络清晰，加之相关考古资料佐证，则比较可信。

There are two different versions on the word Shi＇s origin. One version is that Shi has the same origin with ＂Wang＂ （King）. Another version is that Shi has the same origin with ＂Gui＂ （Jade Tablet）. By sorting out the forms of related characters through synchronic approach, this paper will find out that the first version is unreliable. Instead, the second version was strongly supported by clear characters＇ developing context and circumstantial evidences of archaeological discoveries.