说金文中的“■”

A Discussion of Fen in Bronze Inscriptions

金文中的“■”字十分常见,大体有三种用法:一种修饰食器自名,这类“■”字最常见,它们与名词“飧”表示同一词,泛指食物。这类“■”字还有异体作“■”,修饰食器自名“壶”。“■”亦与“飧”表示同一词,但词义略有不同,特指水浇饭。一种表宴飨义,这类“■”字比较少见,它们与动词“飧”表示的是同一词。一种表祈求义,这类“■”字也比较少见,它们与甲骨、金文中表祈求义的“■”用法相同,都应读为“祈求”之“祈”。另外,本文还指出“■”的本义是水浇饭,它与本义是晚饭的“飧”,是为同一词的不同义项造的不同的字,后“飧”行而“■”废。

Fen ■in bronze inscriptions is very common and broadly has three uses.One modifies the names of food vessels,and this is the most common type.They represent the same word as nominal sun■which refers to food in a general sense.Within this type,there is a variant character fen ■,which modifies the name of the hu壶food vessel.This fen ■ also refers to the same word as sun飧,but with a slightly different meaning,referring specifically to water-poured rice.Another type refers to treating guests,and this type is relatively rare.They refer to the same word as verbal sun飧.The other type means praying,which is also relatively rare.They are the same in usage as hu ■ in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions,and they should be read as qi祈.In addition,this paper points out that the original meaning of fen ■ is water-poured rice,the original meaning of sun飧is supper,and they are different characters for the same word.Later,sun ■ replaced fen ■.