从出土简帛医书看上古汉语晚期词汇复音化进程及动因

The Process and Motivation of Disyllablization of Vocabulary in Late Ancient Chinese from Unearthed Bamboo and Silk Medical Manuscripts

上古汉语早期词汇在先秦以单音词为主,到中古魏晋时期复音词已大量存在。从秦到西汉末年是汉语史上古到中古的过渡阶段,可称为上古汉语晚期,是汉语复音化进程加快的重要转折期。对成书于这一时期的17种简帛医书文献中的单复音词进行穷尽性考察,统计描写简帛医书词汇系统内部单复音词词性分布、使用频率等方面的差异,并与甲骨文、金文、先秦两汉传世文献进行比较,从简帛医书复音词的新词新义角度共同探讨汉语复音化进程及动因问题,得出如下研究结论:其一,从复音化进程来看,上古汉语晚期复音词数量激增,单音词已非新词产生的主要形式;其二,当时复音词虽然在数量上逐渐占优势,但单音词从使用频率上看仍处于词汇系统的核心地位;其三,从语言内部发展规律来看,汉语词汇的复音化最早是从名词开始的,根本动因在于意义表达的需求。

Early ancient Chinese primarily comprised monosyllabic words,whereas by the Wei-Jin period of the Middle Chinese era,polysyllabic words prevailed.The transition from the Qin to the late Western Han dynasty represents the late ancient Chinese period,a crucial phase in the acceleration of disyllablization.This study aims to comprehensively investigate 17 excavated medical manuscripts from this period,analyzing the distribution based on grammatical categories and frequency of monosyllabic and polysyllabic words.By comparing these findings with those from oracle bone inscriptions,bronze inscriptions,and pre-Qin to Han dynasty transmitted texts,the study explores the process and motivation of disyllablization through the emergence of new words and meanings in medical manuscripts.The conclusions are as follows:First,during the late ancient Chinese period,there was a significant increase in the number of polysyllabic words,and monosyllabic words were no longer the main form for new word creation.Second,although polysyllabic words were gradually dominant in number,monosyllabic words were still atthe core of the vocabulary system in terms of usage frequency.Third,from the perspective of internallinguistic development,the disyllablization of Chinese words begins with nouns,and the fundamental motivation lies in the need for more precise expression.