許叔重之重當讀平聲考

The Textual Research on Why the Character重in the Courtesy Name of Xu Shen(許慎)Should Be Pronounced in Ping Tone(平聲)

許慎之字“叔重”之“重”的讀音,向來讀作去聲。通過對先秦兩漢語料的綜合分析,文章認爲“重”字當讀平聲。語音上,東漢人名謡諺四七韻腳字均同調相押,則“五經無雙許叔重”之雙、重當皆讀平聲;故訓中,漢以前未見“重”訓“慎”,而“慎”訓“重”之孤例在相關意義的語詞中,陸德明、顔師古均注爲平聲,其語義來源可能是因東漢時常用複合詞“重慎”而沾染的“慎”義,該詞中“重”也讀平聲。“慎重”一詞不見於中古漢語之前的文獻。

The courtesy name of XŭShèn–Shūchóng(叔重)’s Chóng(重)is usually pronounced as Zhòng.However,this paper aims to prove that Chóng(重)in Xu’s name should be pronounced in Ping Tone.Phonetically speaking,the character Chóng(重)should be in the same tone with Shuāng(雙),according to the rhyming saying in Han Dynasty.In the historic interpretations before Han Dynasty,the meanings of the character重and those of慎are not related too much,as the merely related one is supposed to be in the Ping Tone,probably rooted from the compound word Chóngshèn(重慎).The disyllabic word Shènzhòng(慎重)did not appear in the literature materials until the Middle Chinese.