Related content of Chinese vocabulary

The document that can be seen today that reflects the earliest status of Chinese vocabulary is the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Dynasty. There are about 1,000 oracle bone characters that have been recognized from it. It can be seen from these texts that many words that belong to the basic vocabulary had already appeared at that time. In terms of parts of speech, most of them are content words, with most nouns, followed by verbs, and very few adjectives. In terms of semantic content, they cover a wide range, involving natural phenomena, productive labor, material culture, social relations, daily life, ideology, etc. Take some nouns as an example, such as the names of nature: sky, sun, moon, stars, wind, cloud, rain, snow, fog, hail, rainbow, mountain, Fu, hill, mausoleum, land, rock, mountain, river, Sichuan, spring, state, 沚, stream, valley, soil, stone, water, fire; the names of seasons and time: year, year, spring, autumn, hour, ten days, today, past, next day, morning, dan, dynasty,昃, twilight, twilight, evening; the names of directions: up, down, right, middle, left, inside, outside, east, west, south, north; the names of animals and plants: horse, cow, sheep, pig, dolphin, pig , dog, rabbit, elephant, wolf, fox, tiger, deer, elk, female, male, fish, turtle, snake, bird, chick, finch, pheasant, chicken, insect, earwig, katydid, wood, forest, qi , chestnut, apricot, mulberry, bamboo, grass, millet, millet, wheat, sorghum, and rice; the names of human body and organs: person, body, head, face, eyebrows, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, elbows , toes, heart, belly, bones; names of means of production and living: fields, domains, nurseries, confines, palaces, rooms, houses, dormitories, doors, households, warehouses, barns, huts, prisons, ridges, wells, boats, chariot, carriage, knife, axe, catty, plough, plow, bow, arrow, net, luo, bi, well, tripod, ke, zun, zu, 卣, 疝, 簠, 簗, dish, plate, pot, jue, Rice, soup, wine, wolfberry, silk, silk, clothing, fur, scarf, belt, flag, gourd, jade, shell, horn, chime, drum; names of weapons: Ge, spear, ax, jie, shield; human relations and harmony Names of status: ancestor, concubine, father, mother, brother, younger brother, wife, wife, concubine, concubine, son, nephew, grandson, guest, minister, chief, min, slave, prisoner, xi, zhong, worker, 篯, Jun, Wang, Hou, Bo, Yin, Qing, Wu, Shi; the names of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches; A, B, B, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui, Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen , Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai.

There are very few double-syllable combinations in oracle bone inscriptions, but there are many in the "Shang Shu" of the "Shang Shu" handed down from ancient times. The composition format is mainly formal and parallel. Such as: destiny, heavenly time, royal court, young master, Chongren, common people, teachers, uncles, common people, slander, gods, traitors, laws, confidants, fields, end of the country, veteran, sincere respect, succession, far and near, Stable, shaken, overturned, stolen, destroyed. Some of them can already be regarded as compound words. Especially during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, social changes were greater and faster, such as the increase in productivity, changes in the economic foundation, the evolution of the political system, and the advancement of academic culture, all of which promoted the rapid development of Chinese vocabulary, mainly manifested in the large number of new words and disyllabic The trend of transformation is becoming more and more obvious. The basic scale of ancient Chinese vocabulary was initially formed during this period.

In this period, the number of nouns, verbs and adjectives in content words increased greatly. Take some words that reflect material culture as an example, such as the names of crops: Gu, 稙, 稨, 稜, 稑, 第, 秠, 芑, Liang, 焄, ?, hemp; the names of agricultural tools: ?, 訨, 铓, ? , money, hoe, yoke; names of fields and farming: 玎, 町, border, bank, 畕, 畕,葑,she, cultivate, plow, crop, sow, harvest, basket, till, hoe; metal and smelting Names: gold, iron, lead, nickel, forging, smelting, smelting, casting; names of clothing: Shang, Dagon, Yi, 袗, jacket, robe, 袢, brown, jacket, lapel, gusset, jacket, crown, crown,妦, 舄; names of musical instruments: qin, zither, sheng, yu, xiao, pipe, reed, 厎, chi, bell, yong, 闟, 混, 攔. In terms of reflecting the superstructure, there are many words about politics, officialdom, etiquette, military and criminal law; there are more words about ethics and morals, such as: filial piety, brother (twin), virtue, loyalty, trust, benevolence, and righteousness. , knowledge (wisdom), courage, integrity, and shame.

Other parts of speech are also relatively fully developed.

As early as the pre-Qin period, Chinese vocabulary contained foreign elements absorbed from kinship languages ??and non-kinship languages, but most of them were integrated with the inherent elements and difficult to distinguish. After the Western Han Dynasty, due to the close ethnic relations and frequent international exchanges, some clearly identifiable foreign words were gradually added to Chinese, mainly the names of things from the Western Regions and the South China Sea, such as: Pu Tao, Alfalfa, Tu Lin, Renpin. , betel nut, cigarette, jasmine, colored glaze, amber, 氍?, 毾?, Baidie, Konghou, 觱篥, Shibi, Guoluo, ?. Through the translation of Buddhist scriptures starting from the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Chinese has absorbed a large number of loanwords related to Buddhism from ancient Indian languages ??(Sanskrit, Pali and ancient Central Asian languages ??(such as Yanqi and Qiuci), such as: Prajna, Bodhi, Namo, Gatu, Karma, Nirvana, Yama, Bodhisattva, Arhat, Bhikkhu, Jali, Toutuo, monk, novice, Yaksha, Nili, Jialan, Lanruo, Zhaoti, cassock, Bedo, Maha, and Mosha. Some of them are widely used and have entered the general vocabulary of Chinese. Some polysyllabic words are shortened to single syllables due to common use, such as: Sangha (sa凚gha) / monk, Māluo (m╣ra) / devil, Thapa (thūpa) / tower, robbery wave (kalpa) / robbery, confession (k▄ama) / confession, jhana (dhy╣ na) / Zen, bhikuni (bhik▄u╯ī) / nun, batara ( pātra)/bowl, and these monosyllabic words can be used as morphemes to create many compound words, such as: eminent monk, monk, devil, devil, pagoda, catastrophe, calamity, confession, meditation, Zen master, nun, nunnery, bowl, bowl. In addition, a large number of "meaning translations" appear in the translation of Buddhist scriptures, such as: magic weapon, world, heaven, hell, cause and effect, confidence, truth, transformation, perfection, equality, compassion, convenience, trouble, vajra, solemnity, retribution. Some of them have extended meanings and have become common words in Chinese. After the Song Dynasty, China's social economy continued to progress. Agricultural and sideline industries, handicrafts, commerce and trade all developed greatly, and academic and literary arts (including natural sciences and popular literature) also developed significantly. In order to become developed. In line with the progress of economy and culture, many changes and innovations have occurred in Chinese vocabulary, mainly as follows: a great increase in new words reflecting production, life and learning; spoken words have become more abundant and have entered vernacular literature in large numbers. Works; among the new words, two-syllable words have a clear advantage, and three-syllable words have also increased.

In terms of reflecting production and life, due to the prosperity of industry and commerce and urban life in the Song Dynasty, related workshops, markets, and firms were involved. , the word for shop has increased unprecedentedly, for example: wood shop, bamboo shop, oil shop, brick shop, tailor shop, jade mill shop, rice market, meat market, flower market, gold and silver market, fish shop, vegetable shop, fruit shop, Linen shops, antique shops, noodle shops, hotels, tea shops, wonton shops, needle shops, lacquer shops, medicine shops, and woolen shops. At the same time, the variety of daily consumer goods has also greatly increased, including noodles, cakes, cakes, etc. Sugar is an example, such as: Sanxian noodles, shredded chicken noodles, fried eel noodles, bamboo shoots noodles, noodles, glutinous rice cakes, honey cakes, bean cakes, jade cakes, mirror cakes, Double Ninth Festival cakes, sesame cakes, cooking cakes, moon cakes , lotus leaf cake, chrysanthemum cake, hibiscus cake, ginger sugar, sesame sugar, lactose, plum sugar, drum sugar, five-color sugar. Due to the advancement of agricultural production, there are obviously more words related to crop varieties. Take rice as an example. In the Song Dynasty, there were dozens of varieties, such as: early rice, upland rice, red rice, small fragrant rice, Du Nuo, Man Nuo, glutinous rice, japonica rice, red rice, yellow rice, yellow indica rice, arrow rice, yellow awn, upper stalk, Another example is the words about the sericulture industry, which have been accumulated in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, such as: mulberry basket, mulberry cage, mulberry net, silkworm house, silkworm house, silkworm foil, silkworm mallet, silkworm. Rafter, silkworm rack, cocoon urn, cocoon cage, fire storehouse, furnace, hot cauldron, cold basin, silk reel, cotton beam, winding car, rolling car, batting car, weft car, warp frame, cotton twisting shaft.

The natural sciences and applied technologies (such as astrology, laws and calendars, civil engineering, and farmland water conservancy) made great progress in the Song Dynasty, and there were many inventions and specialized writings. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, they were introduced from the Islamic world in the Near East. Some scientific and technological knowledge and observation instruments. Correspondingly, a number of new words appeared in Chinese.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the European Jesuits who came to China cooperated with Chinese intellectuals and translated many Western science and technology books (including mathematics, astronomy, calendars, music rhythm, geography, water conservancy, machinery manufacturing, etc.), thus adding more words to the Chinese language. Collected a number of modern scientific and technological terms, such as: zenith, heliosphere, moon, earth, longitude, latitude, instrument, telescope, calculation, measurement, arithmetic, geometry, definition, inference, proportion, logarithm, quadrant, circumference , right angle, ellipse, plane, area, volume, volume, equilateral, polygon, triangle, eight lines, machine, ray, perspective.

From the Song Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, due to the development of foreign trade, some foreign words absorbed from Arabic, Malay and other languages ??appeared in Chinese, most of which were the names of special products from outside the region, such as: Zu wax (Giraffe), Huafulu (zebra), Mahabeast (gembo), Jinyanxiang, Duxiang, Da Maerxiang, emerald, suona, fire not thinking, sand paste, Kaoli (sea oyster) , Abbulus, badan apricot, pipe pepper, umbilicus navel. But only a small part got through.

In the Yuan Dynasty, due to the close contact between the Chinese and Mongolian peoples, many Mongolian words penetrated into the Chinese language and were seen in dramas and other works, such as: Mo Lin (horse), Wu Lachi (horseman), Mihan (meat) , Ta La Sun (wine), Tie Li Wen (head), Sa Yin (good), Ya Bu (go), Yue Er Chi (go). Among them, not many of them have been consolidated as foreign words in the Chinese vocabulary, with a few exceptions, such as "station" in Yi Zhan and "bad" in good or bad. In addition, Baoshi, Hutong, Mushroom, and 衡袢 that are still in use today are probably also loanwords absorbed from Mongolian after the Yuan Dynasty.

This period was a period when Chinese spoken vocabulary developed greatly and entered stylistic literature. From the Southern Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, vernacular works of various genres (such as Southern Opera, Zhugong Diao, Zaju, Pinghua, and novels) increased day by day, relatively completely showing the vocabulary appearance of modern Chinese at various stages of development. From the contemporary oral language situation reflected in the Song and Yuan scripts and Ming and Qing novels, we can clearly see the historical process of Chinese vocabulary approaching its current status step by step. Since the Opium War in 1840, Chinese society has experienced rapid changes, and new things and concepts in politics, economy and culture have emerged one after another. Huge and profound changes in social life and people's thoughts have promoted the rapid development and continuous innovation of Chinese vocabulary.

In the 50 years from the Reform Movement of 1898 to the founding of the Republic of China in 1949, many new words were added to Chinese, most of which were bisyllabic words and a small number of trisyllabic words. , there are also a few words with more than three syllables. The main sources of vocabulary additions are: ① Self-invented words. For example: President, Congress, courts, companies, trains, ships, airplanes, bombs, cement, cigarettes, cans, movies, pianos, stamps, licenses, auctions, exchanges, migrant workers, motorcycles, posters, scripts, gold pens, film, departments, Institution, collective, backbone, stage, function, factor, summary, streamlining, microscope, radio, anti-inflammatory tablets, parachute, badminton, guerrillas, Children's Day, ideology, historical materialism. ② Borrow Japanese Chinese characters. For example: prime minister, parliament, political party, doctrine, representative, cadre, agreement, election, veto, agency, court, police, propaganda, speech, intelligence, slogan, current affairs, bank, enterprise, market, degree, authority, curriculum, art, Lecture, conversation, discussion, performance, comedy, specimen, pattern, index, publication, reality, environment, element, premise, function, performance, principle, positive, absolute, affirmation, occasion, procedure, extradition, cancellation, ban, club, Concrete. ③Absorb Indo-European words.

For example: sofa, poker, coffee, cocoa, soda, toast, guitar, nylon, tank, radar radar, bandage, engine, logic, humor, modern, vitamin, model, trust, bourgeois, hysteria (hysteria), card (card), cigar (cigar), flannel (flannel), jeep (jeep), honeymoon (honeymoon), superman (╇bermensch), subconscious (subconsciou-s), blitzkrieg (Blitzkrieg), Zeitgeist, hacker. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the social and political situation has changed at an unprecedented rate in history, such as the establishment of the socialist system, the spread of Marxism-Leninism, the development of economic construction, the popularization of culture and education, the advancement of science and technology, The frequent international exchanges, the improvement of people's living standards and the changes in spiritual outlook have all contributed to various changes in Chinese vocabulary. These changes are reflected in various aspects, such as: ① Political and philosophical terms have become popular, and some have become commonly used words. Such as: policy, strategy, guideline, slogan, class, composition, party, democracy, consultation, negotiation, position, viewpoint, thought, consciousness, theory, practice, phenomenon, essence, abstract, concrete, subjective, objective, relative, absolute, Quantitative change, qualitative change, sensibility, rationality, opposites. ②Technology and health terms have developed greatly, and some have entered general vocabulary. Such as: macro, micro, plastic, tape, computer, software, channel, laser, scanning, remote control, microfilm, copy, video, semiconductor, picture tube, ulcer, thrombosis, inflammation, shock, antibody, vaccine, microscopy, infusion, imaging , immunity, qigong, physiotherapy, antibiotics, electrocardiogram. ③The meaning or usage of many words has been expanded. For example: "revolution" can refer to any work that is beneficial to the people of the country under the leadership of the Communist Party; "struggle" can refer to using physical or mental power to solve problems or overcome difficulties; "comrade" can refer to any member of the people. members; "mass" can refer to each individual among the people, and is also the symmetry of "leader" or "party member"; "collective" can refer to the sum of several people in which each person belongs, and is also the "whole people" or "individuals" "The symmetry of ;The spirit can refer to important documents or the key points of senior leaders’ speeches.

There are also some new trends in word formation: ① Compound words are still mainly formal and parallel, such as: construction site, workshop, energy, overseas Chinese, national grid, rookie, census, expansion, credit sales, airdrop , screening, projects, links, benefits, hard work, retirement. However, predicate-object, predicate-complement and subject-predicate forms have also developed, especially predicate-object forms appear more often, such as: power supply, flood diversion, interception, threshing, feeding, unemployment, winning the first prize, bidding, joint venture, earning foreign exchange, hooking up, taking the lead, Health care, retreat, and hard work. ②Some word-forming components are affixed, and the resulting additive polysyllabic words gradually increase. Take words with the suffixed character, chemical, member, and "home" as examples, such as: planning, technology, interest, knowledge, nationality, comprehensiveness, feasibility, subjective initiative, greening, aging, popularization, Absolute, unified, young, professional, institutionalized, cook, breeder, postman, salesperson, driver, theorist, doer, reformer, gourmet, social activist. ③ Abbreviations continue to appear, and many abbreviations are transformed into words due to common use.

It is precisely because of this rhythm of life that our language develops in response to society.

Since the beginning of written records, Chinese vocabulary has developed over a historical process of more than 3,000 years and is now completely new and extremely rich. With the advancement of China's socialist material civilization and spiritual civilization construction, Chinese vocabulary will become increasingly rich.