《诗经》“伐木所所”中“所”字本义商榷

Discussion on the Original Meaning of the Word“Suo”in The Book of Songs

“所”字由表“处所”义的实词发展到虚词的用法,线索比较清晰,但对“所”字本义的认识尚存争议。不少学者认为“所”字的本义为象声。文章通过对“所”字字形结构和有关文献及方言用例的分析认为:“所”字的本义应为“放置”,而由放置的器物和放置位置的特殊性取得“保护义”,从而由动词义引申得名词义,指帝王贵族居处及具有政府职能的部门,后来词义进一步扩大,泛指一般部门。

The clue of the development of suo(所)from a noun expressing the meaning of“place”to different function words is clear,but the original meaning of suo(所)is still controversial.Many scholars believe that the original meaning of the word suo(所)is onomatopoeia.Through the analysis of the character structure of suo(所)and related literature and examples in dialect,this paper holds that the original meaning of suo(所)should be placing,and the meaning of protection was obtained from the particularity of the object and position,thus the meaning of the noun suo(所)was derived from the verb suo(所),which meant residences of emperors and aristocrats and departments with the government function.Later the word meaning was further expanded,generally refered to the general place.