"Comments on hui-yi characters"

Transcription

1 The Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) announces an Informal Talk by PROF. DR. WILLIAM G. BOLTZ, University of Washington and PROF. DR. IMRE GALAMBOS, Cambridge University "Comments on hui-yi characters" Hui-yi is one of the six principles of character formation, as defined in Eastern Han sources such as the Shuowen jiezi and the Hanshu "Yiwenzhi". It is understood to indicate a character structure consisting of two components, both of which are used for their semantic value. Modern scholarship, however, has proven that characters that have traditionally been understood as being such hui-yi formations are in fact phonetic compounds with at least one component having a phonetic function. Thus the existence of the hui-yi categories during the formative stages of the script may essentially be a myth. At the same time, hui-yi formations appear to have developed during the later stages of the script (e.g. the medieval period), partly because of how contemporary people understood the script they were using. 27 August 2013 at 4 pm, Room 2002 Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures Warburgstraße Hamburg Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)

2 p huì yì combined meanings, syssemantic ; as V-O, conjoining meanings. Shuōwén jiězì Postface (xù / ) : Set the categories [of meaning] side-by-side, combine what is appropriate [from each], in this way [the meaning] is indicated and evoked. 2. Neither nor has an obvious phonophoric component. hăo < *qq h uq good, hào < *qq h uq-s regard as good ; cf. xiào < *q h ruq-s filial piety ān < *//an stable, secure ; cf. / yàn < *//ran-s, *//ian-s tranquil, at rest, seated ; feast < seated on a mat ; y n < */ran-q sit or lie down, repose. míng < *mrang brighten ; cf. míng < *meng name-call ( = ; mìng < *mreng-s fate / míng < *mreng bird-call ; = *MENG CALL ) 3. Charles Sanders Peirce (American philosopher, ) identifed the twin functional semiotic features of iconicity and indexicality as central parts of his formal theory of signs, consisting of the trichotomy of icon, index, and symbol, summarized insofar as it pertains to writing as follows: An icon is a graphic sign that refers to the object that it denotes by virtue of directly reproducing the physical or visual appearance of the object itself. An iconic graph conveys meaning by looking like the thing it stands for. An index is a graphic sign that refers to the object that it denotes by virtue of a direct concrete or tangible suggestiveness or associative effect that is non-arbitrarily related to the object in question. An indexical graph conveys its meaning by looking like something associated with or suggestive of the thing it stands for but does not depict the thing itself. A symbol is a graphic sign that refers to the object that it denotes by virtue of a law that operates so as to cause the symbol to be interpreted as referring to that object. A symbolic graph conveys its meaning by arbitrary, conventional agreement alone and does not necessarily look like anything having to do with the thing in question.

3 p. 2 NON- GLOTTOGRAPHI C GLOTTOGRAPHIC A. Iconic use: / MOUNTAIN MOUNTAIN PEAK shan < *ssran mountain yueh < *nngrok mountain peak B. Indexical use: / HIGH, EXALTED song < *sung high, exalted shan < *ssran mountain C. Symbolic use: yueh < *nngrok mountain peak song < *sung high, exalted

4 p. 3 NON-GLOTTOGRAPHIC GLOTTOGRAPHIC A. Iconic use: MOON yueh < *ng w at moon 1st DAY OF NEW MOON shuoh < *snggrak 1st day of new moon B. Indexical use: NIGHT shih < *s-lak night BRIGHTEN ming < *mrang brighten yueh < *ng w at moon C. Symbolic use: shuoh < *snggrak 1st day of new moon shih < *s-lak night ming < *mrang brighten

5 p. 4 NON-GLOTTOGRAPHIC GLOTTOGRAPHIC A. Iconic use: CRACK, SEPARATE buu < *ppuk to perform the cracking ceremony B. Indexical use: EXTERNAL, OUTSIDE way < *ngg w ats apart, outside, external C. Symbolic use: buu < *ppuk to perform the cracking ceremony way < *ngg w ats apart, outside, external

6 p. 5 NON- GLOTTOGRAPH IC GLOTTOGRAPHIC A. Iconic use: w WOMAN n% < *nra-q woman B. Indexical use: w SIT, SETTLE(D) $n < *ɂɂan secure, settled, stable C. Symbolic use: n% < *nra-q woman $n < *ɂɂan secure, settled, stable

7 Boltz - notes on 會意 characters p. 6 --GD ( ru if, like ) : SH ( ru if, like --GD /an, yan/ stable ; how, wherein ; therein SH /an, yan/ ü( SH Heng jian, SH Min fumu, /(, SH Jian da wang /( ü(, SH Kongzi shi lun SH Dizi wen SH Dizi wen SH Min fumu SH Min fumu SH Jian da wang Bronze inscrip: /an, yan/ / (.( /an, yan/ / ü : OBI: yes : OBI: yes : OBI: no [/an/ < *ɂɂan, Bronze: yes Bronze: yes Bronze: no GD: no GD: yes GD: YES /hàn/ < *hhan-s phonophoric] SH: no SH: yes SH: YES

8 p refers to as a minister in the state of Chu; SH 6.1, in a matching account calls the same minister. jiàn < *kan-s = mù < *mmok? cf. gàn < *kkan-s (= gàn < *kkan-s, g$n < *kkan) xián < *kran = [mù < *mmok] also had a reading *KAN POLE