“词存系统”与“义由用生”:词汇学的重要学术理念

A Word Exists in Systems and Meaning Comes from Usages:the Important Academic Concepts of Lexicology

词汇学有两条重要的学术理念,即“词存系统”与“义由用生”。一个词的最小系统由三个要件构成:a.原生态,即词自身在所有语境中的呈现状态。b.变异态,即词的各种衍生变异形式,如音变形式、分化形式等。c.前身态,即词的源起前身状态。要认清词的真实面目,必须理清这“三态”,做系统考察,这就是“词存系统”理念。“义由用生”指任何引申现象只能发生在使用词义的语境之中,是一个动态的渐变过程,词的一个很少使用的义位缺乏滋生新义的机会,已经消亡的义位更不可能滋生出新义。遗憾的是学术界不少人对这两条理念还没有清醒的认识,导致在学术研究中是非难明或判断失当。

There are two important academic concepts in lexicology, that is, a word exists in systems and meaning comes from usages. The minimal system of a word consists of three elements: a. the state of the word itself in all contexts. b. the state of derivative variations of the word. c. the state of sources. To recognize the true features of the word, we must clarify these three elements and make a systematic investigation, which is the concept of“a word exists in systems”.“meaning comes from use”means that any extended phenomenon can only occur in the context of the use of word meaning, which is a dynamic gradual change process. A rarely used sememe of a word lacks the opportunity to breed new meanings, and the extinct sememe is even less likely to breed new meanings. Unfortunately, many people in the academic circle have not yet had a clear understanding of these two concepts, which leads to knowing right from wrong or misjudgment in academic research.