词汇史札记二则

Two Notes on the History of Chinese Vocabulary

旧词被新词替换以后,有些旧语素会发生讹变,也就是改变写法甚至读音,变成了另外一个字,从"柢"到"蒂/底/地"就是一例;有些旧词则会因为旧义完全不被理解而遭改换,比如从"绘声绘影"到"绘声绘色"。文章通过这两个例子来说明,词汇的演变奥妙无穷,有的变化曲折隐晦,需要我们用词汇史的眼光科学地加以阐明。

When an old word is replaced by a new one,sometimes some of the morphemes might be changed falsely,getting another character pattern,or even a new pronunciation(erroneous substitution(讹 变)).Then,they turn into the different words.For example,dǐ(柢)was changed into dì(蒂/底/地).Sometimes old words are replaced,because people have no idea of their original meaning(replacement(改换)).For example,huìshēnghuìyǐng(绘声绘影)was changed into huìshēnghuìsè(绘声绘色).On these two examples the paper demonstrates that the evolution of the vocabulary is abstruse,and some of the changes are twisted and intricate.Such changes should be scientifically elucidated from the perspective of vocabulary history.