The Study Of Ancient Words In Puxian Dialect

Puxian dialect retains a considerable number of ancient words,which has high value in linguistics.Based on the research results of Concise Vocabulary of Puxian Dialect,Puxian Dialect Investigation Report,Puxian Dialect Dictionary and fieldwork,we have collected 283 Puxian dialect ancient words.In this paper,these words are taken as the research objects,and the methods of synchronic analysis,diachronic textual research,statistical analysis,and comparative analysis are used to investigate and analyze them from different aspects.The article is divided into five parts.The first part made a brief introduction to Puxian dialect,summarized the research status of ancient words in Puxian dialect,explained the research significance,research methods and research steps of this paper,introduced the basic information about the partners of dialect survey and defined the ancient words in Puxian dialect.The second part,which is divided into two chapters,classified and described the ancient words remaining in Puxian dialect,in order to examine the performance of the synchronic level.The pronunciation,meaning and usage of ancient words in dialect are indicated under each entry,the ancient pronunciation is explained with the help of ancient dictionaries,and the use cases of ancient words in ancient documents are found by relying on Erudition’s Basic Ancient Chinese Books Library and relevant information.The third part is a diachronic analysis of ancient words in Puxian dialect from the perspective of historical level and semantic evolution.This part is divided into two sections.In the first section,according to the use cases of ancient words in Puxian dialect in ancient documents,the historical levels of ancient words are divided,and individual words are selected under each historical level for supplementary explanation.Then,it investigated the quantity distribution,syllable performance and syllable change of ancient words in Puxian dialect at various historical levels,and tried to explore the reasons behind them.It can be found that the number of ancient words in Puxian dialect is unevenly distributed at various historical levels,and the ancient words belonging to the pre-Qin and Han dynasties are far more than other historical levels,which is closely related to the formation history of the Min dialect,the stability and productivity of the basic vocabulary,and the geographical location of Puxian region.There are more ancient words belonging to the Song Dynasty than before and after two historical levels,which is related to the overall prosperity and important position of Fujian culture in the Song Dynasty,the formation and dissemination of Puxian opera.The number of the ancient words belonging to the historical levels of the Yuan Dynasty,Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty is the least.It is because these historical periods are relatively close to modern times.Consequently,many words can still be found in contemporary Chinese language.The syllable performance and syllable change of ancient words in Puxian dialect at different historical levels basically show the trend of changing from monosyllabic words to polysyllabic words,which is related to the overall polysyllabic trend of Chinese vocabulary.The second section investigated the evolution of the meaning of the ancient words in Puxian dialect,and analyzed them with the help of the research results in Jiang Shaoyu’s Outline of Ancient Chinese Vocabulary and the theory of metonymy and metaphor in cognitive linguistics.It can be found that most of the ancient words in Puxian dialect still retain some ancient sememes,a small part of the ancient words have lost their ancient sememes in Puxian dialect,and nearly half of the ancient words have produced new sememes in Puxian dialect.There are three main ways of meaning evolution of ancient words in Puxian dialect: the semantic extension involving enlargement,reduction,transfer,and translocation,the grammaticalization of the meaning and the contraction of the word.The fourth part,on the basis of the previous studies,makes textual criticisms and explanations on the four characteristic ancient words in Puxian dialect.These words are“埕”“厝”“金奴(孥)”“郭郎”.The fifth part is the conclusion.The whole content of the paper is sorted out,and the shortcomings and prospects of the future are pointed out.