The Explanations On Folk Words In The Folklore Of Min Capital

The folk language materials preserved in the novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties is of great significance to the study of modern Chinese vocabulary and the whole history of Chinese vocabulary,providing abundant linguistic data for studying the development and evolution of modern Chinese vocabulary.As a representative vernacular novel of Min dialect area in the Ming and Qing dynasties,the Folklore of Min Capital is rich in folkloric language elements,which is an excellent corpus for the study of folk words.However,it has not attracted wide attention in the academic circle,and the folk words in this book have not been systematically studied.Based on the above reasons,this paper took the folk words in the Folklore of Min Capital as the research object,to make a comprehensive research and clarify their basic profile.While analyzing and interpreting the meanings of folk words in the book,this paper explored the social customs and folk culture contained in the words.In addition,this paper collected a large number of literature examples,which will provide certain reference materials for the study of Chinese history and the revision of Chinese dictionaries.The paper consists of three parts: introduction,text and conclusion.The introduction part mainly introduces the origin,object,purpose,significance and methods of the research.The research object part mainly explains the general situation of the Folklore of Min Capital and folk words,and expounds the main content,the spread of the version and the current situation of research of the book,and introduces the research status of folk words.Moreover,this part also makes the definition and classification of folk words on the basis of referring to previous studies.Through the analysis of the folk words in the Folklore of Min Capital,it is found that the folk words involve a very wide range.According to the words’ meanings,they could be divided into four categories and some sub-categories: material folk words,social folk words,spiritual folk words and language folk words.Chapter one to chapter four is the main body of the paper,which carried on the interpretation research to material folk words,social folk words,spiritual folk words and language folk words respectively and selected some typical words from each kind of the folk words to explain.This paper mainly collected documentary evidences with the help of the same period or the same type of literature,and verified them with modern spoken dialect language.At the same time,it referred to the authoritative dictionaries to explain the meanings and dig out the cultural connotation of the folk words.In addition,at the end of each chapter,mathematical statistics were used to summarize and analyze the characteristics of the folk words of each type and the folk fashion contained in the words.The first chapter is the research on the interpretation of the material folk words.In chapter one,the material folk words were divided into two categories:material production folk words and material life folk words,which were also classed into eight sub-categories: technology folk words,commercial trade folk words,dressing up folk words,diet custom words,architectural folk words,transportation folk words,appliance folk words,medical disease folk words.These words reflected the advanced material production technology and rich material life style of ancient fuzhou.The second chapter is the research on the interpretation of the social folk words.In chapter two,the social folk words were divided into four categories:life etiquette folk words,festival customs words,social activities folk words and folk entertainment words.Among them,life etiquette folk words could be classed into four sub-categories,namely marriage customs words,funeral customs words,birth customs words,birthday customs words.And the social activities folk words were also divided into four sub-categories: culture and education folk words,crime folk words,government litigation folk words,favor contact folk words.As a lot of etiquette in social folk customs have been well preserved,so part of the social folk words are still used today.But there are some bad habits and folk entertainment with the evolution of the times have been abandoned or eliminated,so they leave records only in the literature.To some extent,these words reflected the social life style and interpersonal communication characteristics at that time.The third chapter is the research on the interpretation of the spiritual folk words.In chapter three,the spiritual folk words were divided into two categories: folk belief words and sacrificial custom words,which incarnated the folk psychology of ghost superstition in old Fujian.The fourth chapter is the research on the interpretation of the language folk words.In chapter four,the linguistic folk words were divided into two categories: appellation words and abusive language.And the appellation words could be divided into two sub-categories: kinship appellation words and social appellation words.The complex and diverse kinship appellation words reflected the strict hierarchical concept under the patriarchal system.Besides,all kinds of social appellation words involved various classes and professions,which reflected the developed economic level of Fuzhou in old times.Moreover,the rich abusive language had strong local characteristics.It cursed people with death,or with animals,or with damaged body organs,moral corruption and humble status,which embodied the people’s folk psychology of the fear of death and injury,valuing people,and priority in rank.Folk words are important carriers of folk culture.A large number of folk words contained in the Folklore of Min Capital show vivid picture scrolls of ancient Fuzhou.Through collation and interpretation,the paper showed the general picture of the folk words in the book,and discussed the slang words and social customs at that time.