“熟”有衰老义的来源与成因

The Sanskrit Origin of the Word Shu(熟) Meaning “Decrepit”

"熟"最早在汉译佛经中出现了"衰老"义,可以构成"根熟""老熟"等一系列双音词或短语。这种用法不见于前代中土文献,可能是从梵文√pac词根的衍生词中移植(semantic transfer)而来。本文将汉译佛经与梵文、巴利文的平行文本进行对勘,通过比较衰老义"熟"在译经与一般中土文献中的用例分布,对这一词义移植现象的发生和巩固过程进行描写和讨论。

The first occurance of the word Shu(熟)meaning'decrepit'is found in the early Chinese translation of Buddhist texts.It could be used as a monosyllabic word,and could also construct the polyphonic words or phrases like Genshu(根熟)or Laoshu(老熟).This kind of usage did not exist in Chinese literature before Buddhist texts were translated.It might be a semantic transfer from the Sanskrit words derived from root√pac.Through comparing the parallels in Chinese,Sanskrit and Pali,and investigated the distribution of Shu(熟)meaning'decrepit'in Chinese literature,this article analyses the occurance and consolidation of this semantic transfer from Sanskrit to Chinese.