“尪”字词义演变探微

A Probe into the Evolution of the Meaning of WANG(尪)

古籍中"尪"字主要表示"肢体残疾"或"羸弱"义。但作为闽南方言字的"尫"却用于表示神明、神像义,或表示与巫师、巫婆等相关的意义,与典籍中的意义差别较大。文章认为,"尪"字最早的意义应为"因肢体弯曲症导致的跛",由此引申出身体孱弱残疾的意义。由于古代巫师、巫婆职业多由因病致残者担任,因此"尪"字逐渐有了表示巫师、巫婆或神明等意义的功能。

In the ancient books,WANG(尪) mainly means"physical disability"or "cowardly". However,the meaning of WANG in Minnan dialect is used to express the meaning of the gods or the witches,which is very different in the classical books. This paper finds out that the earliest meaning of WANG should be"the sputum caused by limb curvature",which leads to the meaning of physical weakness. Because the ancient wizards and witches were mostly disabled,WANG gradually had the function of expressing the meaning of a wizard,a witch or a god.