A Study On The Explanation Of The Names

Ming Wu is an important object of study of traditional exegetics and receives the attention of scholars throughout history. In ancient times, since animals and plants are vital means of subsistence and production, traditional linguistics attaches great importance especially to the Ming Wu words of animals and plants. Er Ya Yi is a masterpiece of thingology explaining mass noun of animals and plants. Taking Er Ya Yi as the research object, this thesis emphasizes the compilation and the explanation style, the relationship between names and realities and the orderliness of names found by Luo Yuan and his explaining methods and scholarly research spirits, demonstrating the practical application of the book.The main content is as follows.The introduction chiefly presents the author of Er Ya Yi and its emergence. Comparing Er Ya Yi and Er Ya in their content and stylistic layout, one can see that the former is a complementary of the later. It gives an brief introduction to the research findings of the book and the task of the paper.Chapter One Analysis of Style and Textual Evidence of Er Ya Yi. It discusses the compilation and the explanation style, bringing an overall view of the book. And it sums up the documents quoted by Er Ya Yi, summarizes their features and the significance in the research on collocation of ancient books.Chapter Two Methods of Mass Noun Hermeneutic in Er Ya Yi. This chapter mainly analyzes the methods Luo Yuan applies in explaining nouns, which are explaining Ming Wu by references, explaining Ming Wu by careful observation, seeking the noun’s meaning by its form and creating the noun by its sound. The principle methods are the first two.Chapter Three Exploration of the regular Relationship between Name and Reality of Ming Wu in Er Ya Yi. It explores the relationship between Name and Reality and the principles of naming Ming Wu in two aspects, that is, Naming Motivation and Different Variations of Names. It also pursues the cultural significance behind Ming Wu by the process of Luo Yuan’s noun hermeneutic.Chapter Four Several Failings of The Chinese Dictionary Compared with Er Ya Yi. It presents the failings of The Chinese Dictionary in established items, explanations and textual evidence. The failings are insufficient entries, incomprehensive meanings, short of evidence and out-of-dated textual evidence and so on.