Husband: the meaning is narrowed. It used to refer to an adult man and a gentleman, but now it refers to the woman's spouse. . Gong: The meaning is reduced. Refers to ancient houses, including private houses and palaces. The Han dynasty began to refer to the rooms of emperors, and now it refers to cultural and entertainment places, such as the Children's Palace. . . Persuasion: meaning transfer. In ancient times, it refers to hope, but now it refers to advice and persuasion. . . Again: it means transfer. It was the second time in ancient times, and now it is again.
The evolution of ancient and modern word meanings is extremely complicated, and there are roughly the following four aspects:
First, the expansion of meaning.
The expansion of word meaning means that the scope of objective things reflected by the evolved word meaning is greater than the original meaning.
For example, The Book of Songs refers to the ancient Book of Songs and The Analects of Confucius for Politics: "In a word, there are 300 poems, saying: thinking is innocent." Modernity refers to ordinary poetry, and its meaning has expanded.
"River" refers to the ancient Yellow River. "The Book of Songs, Feng Wei, Cutting Tan", "Kan Kan cut Tan, Jianggan." "Zuo Zhuan Cheng Gong Sixteen Years": "Jin Shi Ji He." "Zhuangzi Autumn Water": "Autumn water comes, and all rivers are full." Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang said, "If Hanoi is fierce, it will move its people to the east of the river." "Hanoi" refers to the north bank of the Yellow River, which is now Qinyang, Henan; "Hedong" refers to the east of the Yellow River, which is now southwest of Shanxi. Before the Han Dynasty, the common meaning of "river" specifically refers to the Yellow River. Later, it generally refers to general rivers. Extending the name of a river to a general name, and changing it from a proper name to a general name, the present meaning expands the scope of the ancient meaning.
The ancient "tooth" refers to the teeth arranged in front of the lips. Oracle Bone Inscriptions painted on the front teeth. Mozi did not attack: "The ancients had words, and their lips died and their teeth were cold." Later, it generally refers to teeth. Bai Juyi's "Nine Letters to Yuan": "Teeth are white before they get old." Enlarge the front teeth into teeth, and the meaning of "teeth" will be expanded.
"Ring" means echo in ancient times. Jade Piece: "Ring, answer also." Notes on Water Classics Rivers: "There are often high apes howling, which lead to sad cries, empty valleys echoing, and sad turns leisurely." Jia Yi's "On Qin": "The world gathers and responds, and wins the grain and follows the scenery." The present meaning generally refers to the sound made by all objects, and the concept extension has been expanded. Expansion is to expand the scope of meaning.
Second, the narrowing of the meaning of words
The narrowing of word meaning means that the scope of objective things reflected by the evolved word meaning is smaller than that of the original meaning.
For example, "gold" refers to metals in the pre-Qin period. "Zuo Zhuan Xi Gong Eighteen Years": "Zheng Bochu went to Chu, and Zi Chu gave gold. When you regret it, make an alliance with it:' there is no way to join the army.' So, it took three minutes. "It is recorded here that the" gold "awarded to Zheng by the King of Chu obviously refers to" copper "because copper was used to cast weapons and Zhong Ding at that time. The king of Chu was worried that the copper given to Zheng would be used to make weapons, so he made an oath with Zheng Li. There is no word "gold" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, but there are "gold" and "copper" in the inscriptions, but there are no "silver" and "iron". Guo Moruo believes that "iron" appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period. After the appearance of "iron", "tin" and "silver", "gold" gradually refers to "gold", such as Records of the Historian Wendi Benji: "Gold, silver, copper and tin shall not be used as ornaments. "The meaning of' gold' has gradually narrowed. Morphemes in compound words such as "hardware", "metalworking" and "metal" still retain traces of ancient meanings. )
"Palace" refers to ancient houses. "Palace" and "house" are synonyms, both referring to houses in the pre-Qin period. After Qin and Han Dynasties. "Palace" refers to the residence of feudal emperors, such as "Epang Palace" and "Weiyang Palace". Now, apart from some old brands called "Palace", there are only some cultural and entertainment places called Palace, such as Children's Palace and Cultural Palace. The meaning of "work" is getting smaller and smaller.
In ancient times, "sitting" was not only the action of "sitting down", but also the meaning of "sin" and "cause". In "Man Zi Chun Qiu", Wang Yue said, "Why sit?" You said,' Sit down and steal. Biography of Historical Records of Shang Jun "Shang Jun's law, others and inexperienced people sit on it". "Sitting" in the above example is "sin". Han Yuefu's On Mulberry: "The tiller forgets to plow, and the hoe forgets to hoe, so he comes to complain and watch Luofu." Mutu's Mountain Walk: "In the distance, someone is in Bai Yunsheng. Stop and sit in the maple forest late, and the frost leaves are red in February. " The "sitting" in the above example should be said to be "because". Now it means "sit down", which is narrower than the ancient meaning.
"Husband" refers to an adult man in ancient times. Shuowen "weekly system, eight inches as a ruler, ten feet as a ruler, and people are eight feet long, so they are called husbands." Han Feizi: "The husband of the ancients didn't plow, but he had enough vegetation." "Warring States Policy Zhao Ce" "Does the husband also love the younger son?" Later, it only refers to the male side of the spouse, that is, "the wife's husband." Narrowing the extension of the concept means narrowing the scope of meaning.
Third, the transfer of meaning.
Refers to the objective object reflected by the meaning of words. It has moved from class A to related class B.
For example, "grave" originally refers to a tall mound or river bank in ancient times. Dialect: "The high and big soil is called the grave." "The Book of Songs Nan Zhou Confucianism": "With its Confucianism, cut its pieces." (Cut down the trunk along Rushui dike) Chapter 9 of The Songs of Chu "Go to the grave and look far away, and talk about my worries." The "grave" is a high mound. When the ancients died, they didn't pile up soil, so the Book of Rites Tan Gong said, "The tomb of the ancients is not a grave." Later, when soil was piled on the tomb, it was called a "grave", so "grave" also refers to a grave built of soil. In this sense, the original "tall mound" and "river bank" were transferred to the "grave".
The "bean" shaped like a goblet in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is a wooden goblet for holding meat. The Book of Songs, Daya Sheng Min, is "from beans to boarding" (meat is in beans and meat is boarding. ")" Bean "refers to this kind of vessel. Later, the meaning of "beans" was transferred to beans and their fruits. In ancient times, leguminous plants were called "glutinous rice" instead of "beans".
"Foot" originally refers to the calf. After the Middle Ages, "foot" refers to the part below the ankle. At that time, the interpretation of the word "foot" was. In this sense, the original "calf" was transferred to the part below the calf.
"Bing" originally refers to weapons. Shuowen: "Soldiers are also armed." Jia Yi's "On Qin": "Chop firewood for soldiers. Reveal the flag. " "Xianyang, the land where soldiers gather in the world." The idiom "hand to hand combat" refers to weapons. In the present sense, it refers to soldiers and fighters. When "weapons" are transferred to armed people, it means that the meaning is transferred to nearby places.
Fourth, the meaning of words has different colors.
Changes in customs and social thoughts often cause people to cherish things and change their evaluation of good and evil, thus affecting the evaluation of word meaning. Due to the changes of customs and social thoughts, the changes of word meaning are affected. Some words change from commendatory to derogatory, some words change from derogatory to commendatory, and some words change from neutral to derogatory. For example:
"Slave" refers to military commanders and warriors in ancient times, which is a commendatory term. On Mandarin Yu Yue: "Although my husband has no worries on all sides, the counselor and slave have to choose to be helpless." Biography of Li Hanguang: "The general is also a pawn of the country." The modern meaning of "slave" refers to accomplice and running dog, which has become a derogatory term.
In ancient times, "restoration" meant "restoration of the throne", which was a commendatory term. Now it means "resurrection of reactionary forces" and has become a derogatory term.
"Exercise" in ancient times means "playing with the law to frame people", which is a derogatory term. Now it means "labor exercise", "ideological exercise" and "physical exercise", and "exercise" has become a commendatory term.
In ancient times, "slander" refers to publicly accusing others of their faults, which is a neutral word. "On Mandarin and Zhou Yu": "Li Wang insulted, and China people slandered Wang." The modern meaning of "libel" refers to "libel crime", "libel crime" and "libel crime", which has become a derogatory term.
"Bribery", which means "giving property" in ancient times, is a neutral word. "Zuo Zhuan Gong Xuan Nine Years": "Meng Xianzi was hired by Zhou, and Wang bribed him as a gift." "Bribery" now means "bribery", that is, "buying with property". Became a derogatory term.