Chinese Sources Sememe Vocabulary System

The essay begins with the cognition of the svstematidness of the vocabularv and the lexical meaning. The essay holds that the Chinese vocabulary system bases on the interrelation among the lexical meanings, which is classified into the internal sYstem and the external system, that is, one is the meaning group formed by the extension of the interior of the lexical meaning; the other is the word group formed by the external multiplication of the same group of the lexical meaning. In my opinion, it is a special element in the interior of the lexical meaning that relates and organizes the whole system of the vocabulay and the lexical meanings, which is called 揺tymemeEtymeme is an element in the interior of the lexical meaning. It is a special sememe. It is neither an element which fonns the lexical meaning nor an glossemet which has a specific referent in the system of the lexical meaning. As a special fonning-sememe in the interior of the lexical meaning, etymeme has some noticeable characteristics of its own: suggestiveness~ abstractness~ Imagery and broadness. Generally etyrneme exists in the internal system of the lexical meaning. It is the essential sememe which reflects the abstract internal characteristic of an object. In the external system of the lexical meaning, it is the element of the lexical meaning or the characteristic of the lexical meaning which is reflected by a group of cognate words. In the internal system of the lexical meaning, the function of the etymeme is to restrict the vertical extension of the original meaning and production of a new glosseme; while in the external system of the lexical mean-ing, the function of the etymeme is multiply crosswise and to produce cognate words.After analyzing the property and characteristics of the Chines etymeme and the existing method in the lexical meaning, the es~ay further investigates the functions of the etymeme in the vocabulary system. The essay has the following opinionsIThe Chinese etymeme is the internal force of the multiplication of the vocalularv.IIThe Chinese etymeme is the potential clue of the development of the lexical meanings from the beginning to the end.III.The Chinese etyxneme is the regulation of realization of the verbal meaning of a word.