“商”字探源

Interpretation of the source of “Shang”(商)

"商"为古今汉语常用字,然而其本义问题一直悬而未决。"商"之本义当为酒器"斝",原因有四:"商"与"斝"甲骨文字形极其相似;"觞"为"商"之假借字,二者读音相似且"觞"为酒器;"商"之商量、商业义,由"商"的本义引申而来;商代有发达的酒文化。

"Shang"(商) is a common Chinese character in ancient and modern Chinese, but its original meaning is still not settled. There are four reasons why the original meaning of"Shang"(商) should be the wine vessel "Jia"(斝): the oracle bone inscriptions of "Shang" and"Jia"are very similar in shape; "Shang"( 觞) is the borrowing character of "Shang"( 商), which have the similar pronunciation and "Shang"(觞) is a kind of wine vessel; the extended meanings of "Shang"(商) such as "discuss" and "business" derived from the original meaning of "Shang"(商); there was developed wine culture in Shang Dynasty.