“[分手]”义释疑

A Study on the Character phai[分手]

"[分手]"字孤僻,大型辞书均未见收录。今考"[分手]"有动词和量词两种用法,动词义为"以双臂平伸的长度为单位丈量",量词义为"双臂平伸的长度"。在汉语南方方言、藏缅语、明清小说里均以多种字形出现。考其语义来源,当为"捭"。

phai[分手]is a rarely-used Chinese character and is not included in any major dictionary.Our research shows that it can be used as both a verb,meaning‘to measure by extending both arms horizontally’,and a measure word,meaning‘the length of extending both arms horizontally’.It occurs in variant forms in southern Chinese dialects,Chinese novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties and Tibeto-Burman languages.Textual research demonstrates that phai[分手]derives from the character pai捭.