“硬”对“坚”的替换分析

On the Substitution of “Ying” for “Jian”

在现代口语中,表示"坚硬"义的常用词为"硬",但在先秦时期,表此义的只有"坚"一词,"硬"在东汉时期才开始出现,并逐步对"坚"完成了替换,占据主体地位。本文从两个词语语义演变的过程分析,在历时的角度下,探索"硬"替换"坚"的过程和原因。

The frequently-used word signifying"Jianying"(being hard and tough)in the modern Chinese colloquial language is"Ying"(being hard)whereas in the pre-Qin period it used to be"Jian"(being tough). Actually,"Ying"came into use in the Eastern Han Dynasty and gradually became dominant through the substitution for"Jian". To make clear how and why the substitution took place,the paper explores diachronically the semantic evolution of the two words.