從「右文說」論假借與轉注

有人說：假借與轉注不是造字法，而北大教授李牧卻說：「假借是一音（字）數用，但假借久了便加上形符，以示區別；那加上形符的字便成為形聲字。」筆者認為：「假借→轉注→形聲」是漢字量產的主程式。論據可從「右文說」出發，也可由「侖」字家族談起。結論是：假借與轉注對漢字演化起了不可或缺的功能和作用，對文化與文明的交流傳遞，貢獻至深且巨。

關鍵字

轉注；假借；形聲；右文說

並列摘要

It is believed that zhuǎn-zhù and jiǎ-jiè have not been used in forming Chinese characters. According to Li Mu, a Chinese poet in Tang Dynasty, ”jiǎ-jiè means using one sound or word in a numerous ways for different meanings. As time goes along, however, different shapes or pictographic symbols were added for displaying different meanings. Those characters with the added shapes or symbols then were termed as xíng-shēng characters. This paper claims that Chinese characters experienced a process of transformation-first from jiǎ–jiè to zhuǎn-zhù, then from zhuǎn-zhù to xíng-shēng. This process, as a matter of fact, is a critical formula in forming Chinese characters, and has its tremendous contribution in increasing the number of Chinese words. To support this presumption, this paper starts with ”the Theory of yòu-wén”, and then uses the word ”lún” as an example. To conclude, jiǎ-jiè and zhuǎn-zhù play indispensable roles in the formation of Chinese character system They also have their significant contributions to the evolution of Chinese culture and civilization.