常用词“怠”“惰”“懒”的历时演变

A Study on the Diachronic Evolution of Dai(怠),Duo(惰)and Lan(懒)

汉语词汇史上表示“懒惰”义的常用词主要有“怠”“惰”“懒”,它们之间存在历时替换关系:上古汉语时期主要用“怠”“惰”,而现代汉语口语一般只说“懒”,“怠”和“惰”只保留在复音词或用于特殊表述中。文白兴替、词义负担以及语言使用者追求陌生化、新颖化的表达是诱发这一概念新旧质替换的主要动因。

In the history of Chinese vocabulary,the common words expressing the meaning of laziness mainly include dai(怠),duo(惰)and lan(懒).There is a diachronic substitution relationship between them:in ancient Chinese,dai(怠)and duo(惰)were mainly used;while in modern spoken Chinese,lan(懒)was most used,dai(怠)and duo were only retained in polysyllabic words or used in special expressions.The main motivation for the replacement comes from the alternation of vernacular and classical Chinese,the lexical burden and language users’pursuit of unfamiliar and novel expressions.