Modern Chinese Lexicology

243 Pages·2018·1.96 MB·English

by  Ge Benyi

Modern Chinese Lexicology
Centring on “words” which connect vocabulary and semantic morphemes, this
book makes a systemic and in-depth analysis on the study of modern Chinese
lexicology.
Firstly, it clarifies the definitions and properties of vocabulary, words and
semantic morphemes in Chinese. Then the structure forms of Chinese words are
examined. It is worth noting that this research is one of the first to distinguish
word formation and lexical morphology. It observes that word formation studies
how neologisms are coined, while lexical morphology refers to the ways in which
semantic morphemes are combined with each other. On word meaning and its
clustering, it discusses the relationship between word meaning and concept,
as well as the criteria and principles of the clustering. Specifically, it studies
monosemes, polysemes, synonyms, near-synonyms, antonyms, etc., including
their characteristics and types. Lastly, it explores the evolution of word meaning
and its laws, as well as the dynamic form of vocabulary.
This book will be a valuable reference for scholars and students in linguistics,
especially in Chinese lexical studies.
Ge Benyi is a professor and PhD supervisor of Chinese Linguistics at the School
of Chinese Language and Literature, Shandong University. She is mainly engaged
in the teaching and research of Chinese linguistics with a special preference for
Chinese lexicology.
Chinese Linguistics
Chinese Linguistics series selects representative and frontier works in linguistic
disciplines including lexicology, grammar, phonetics, dialectology, philology and
rhetoric. Mostly published in Chinese before, the selection has had far-reaching
influence on China’s linguistics and offered inspiration and reference for the
world’s linguistics. The aim of this series is to reflect the general level and latest
development of Chinese linguistics from an overall and objective view.
Titles in this series currently include:
Modern Chinese Lexicology
Ge Benyi
Modern Chinese Parts of Speech
Systems Research
Guo Rui
Modern Chinese Parts of Speech
Classification Theory
Guo Rui
Prosodic Syntax in Chinese
Theory and Facts
Feng Shengli
Prosodic Syntax in Chinese
History and Changes
Feng Shengli
The Experiential Guo in Mandarin
A Quantificational Approach
Ye Meng
Research on Functional Grammar of Chinese
Information Structure and Word Ordering Selection
Zhang Bojiang, Fang Mei
Research on Functional Grammar of Chinese
Reference and Grammatical Category
Zhang Bojiang, Fang Mei
For more information, please visit https://www.routledge.com/Chinese-Linguistics/
book-series/CL
Modern Chinese Lexicology

Ge Benyi
First published in English 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Ge Benyi
Translated by Xu Dekuan
The right of Ge Benyi to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
English Version by permission of The Commercial Press.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-57661-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-26952-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Contents Contents
Preface to the third Chinese edition vi
Preface to the first Chinese edition vii
Preface to the revised Chinese edition viii
1 Vocabulary revisited 1
2 Words and semantic morphemes 27
3 The emergence and structural forms of words 55
4 Word meaning 110
5 Word meaning clustering 123
6 The evolution of word meaning and its laws 169
7 Exploring the dynamic form of vocabulary 189
References 215
Index 227
Preface to the third Chinese edition
Preface to the third Chinese editionPreface to the third Chinese edition
The first edition of Modern Chinese Lexicology was published in 2001, and its
revised edition was published in 2004. After the publication of the book, strong
supports from readers have been received and it has been reprinted eight times in
ten years and the supply still falls short of demand up to now. Apart from being
grateful, I am here only to express my deep respect and gratitude to my friends
and readers who support me.
Now the Commercial Press is taking over publishing the book, so I took advan-
tage of this opportunity to make further revisions as much as I could for the sake
of perfection. The major revisions include but are not limited to:
• First, necessary supplements were made to the points which had not been
thoroughly discussed before.
• Second, improper examples were replaced as much as possible.
• Third, modifications to the elaborations that were not clear enough and cor-
rections to the occasionally few typos were made.
• Fourth, some major references were supplied at the request of the readers.
The references are listed in chronological order, the purpose of which is just
to let the readers know that it is in this process that I learned and studied Chi-
nese lexicology, and it is in the nourishment and inspiration of these works
that I keep moving forward.
It was another revision, though, I don’t think it is possible to reach the acme of
perfection in learning, and I still sincerely wish that all my friends and readers will
continue to make valuable comments.
Ge Benyi
Shandong University
June 2012
Preface to the first Chinese edition
Preface to the first Chinese editionPreface to the first Chinese edition
The present little book, Modern Chinese Lexicology, is an integration of my for-
mer book, A Study on Chinese Vocabulary, and the researches, thinking and writ-
ings of more than ten years in the past. It may also be said a monograph to have
ensembled my current researches on Chinese vocabulary.
I began to be interested greatly in vocabulary while I was teaching the course
“introduction to linguistics” after my graduation and was enrolled as a teacher by
my Alma Mater in 1955. Since then, I have been consciously or unconsciously
willing to learn, observe and think about problems in Chinese vocabulary. During
the long fifty years or so, I have not only enjoyed myself but also gained a lot from
it. My book Vocabulary of Modern Chinese was published in 1961. Although
this little book was only one of my works of apprenticeship, its publication gave
me invaluable encouragement and confidence. I began to do my own studies: on
the basis of learning the research findings of former and contemporary scholars,
I began to go my own way and learn to speak my own words.
A Study on Chinese Vocabulary was published in 1985. Due to the limitations
of the academic level and conditions of study at that time, it was a little bit simpler
because some problems have not even been mentioned. But I am still consenting
to the many points of view in that book at present; therefore, I will continue to use
them in this book, except that some new ones are to be added and others are to be
modified to a certain extent. Furthermore, some new ideas and contents are to be
added and some new questions are to be discussed.
Whichever academic research field is a colourful world; whichever researcher
can investigate and explore in this world by his own strength; at the same time, on
whichever problem one can put forward his own views according to the specific
practice of himself. Whether this view is appropriate or not, whether it is correct
or not, of course, would depend on the test of the reality and the judgement of the
academic community. It is with such an idea that I am engaged in research and
writing. Therefore, after the publication of this book, I still hope to get help and
criticism from everybody.
Ge Benyi
Shandong University
May 2000
Preface to the revised Chinese edition
Preface to the revised Chinese edition Preface to the revised Chinese edition
The book Modern Chinese Lexicology was published by Shandong People’s Pub-
lishing House in April 2001. It has been well recognized and accepted after its
publication and was printed for the second time in March 2002 in line with the
social needs. The distribution of the book is gratifying, but I find many viewpoints
in the book unsatisfactory whenever I read the book. This is mainly reflected in
that the discussion on some issues is too simple and therefore not complete, and
it is not detailed and lucid enough for the explanation of some new theoretical
points of view. There are also some omissions and instances of negligence in the
text. Now Shandong People’s Publishing House will reprint the book, and I have
decided to take this opportunity to revise the book. In addition to supplement
some necessary new contents, I will make up some deficiencies that have been
noticed so as to enrich and improve the book.
In October 2002, Chinese Lexicology (six volumes), of which I am editor-in-
chief, was published by Shandong University Press. In addition to making every-
one feel happy, the publication of the book also baffled and confused my friends
by mainly the following two issues:
• First, by baffling it is meant that, in the book, especially in the first volume, a
number of well-known scholars are criticized. I never criticized others in my
works in the past, so that baffled everybody. I, without any doubt, am not in
the least favour of such criticism in the book, which is very inconsistent with
my usual principles and academic style, not to mention that among the criti-
cized are the respected scholars with whom I am familiar and quite not a few
have been good friends of mine for years. The reason why I kept the passage
lies in that the book was authored by division of labour and I myself have
also been criticized in that very volume. In order not to suppress criticism,
especially the criticism to my own, and to give others freedom of opinion and
expression, I kept the passage as it was. What needs to be explained here is
that my own scholarly philosophy remains unchanged as ever.
• Second, by confusion it is meant that I myself was criticized in the book that
I edited myself; thus, my friends and students who had read my writings were
so confused that they couldn’t help asking if my viewpoints have changed.
I have already explained the reasons for retaining that passage above, so here
Preface to the revised Chinese edition ix
I can say with certainty that my academic viewpoints have not been changed.
From A Study on Chinese Vocabulary to the first edition of Modern Chinese
Lexicology, up to this revised edition, there is no contradiction among the
theoretical viewpoints, and if there is any difference, it is only that I try to
revise the contents of later editions so that the latter is more perfect than the
former. Therefore, it can be said that the revised edition of Modern Chinese
Lexicology now published is the most representative of my current academic
thinking.
Great gratitude to all those concerned about this issue, and I hope that every-
body can understand this.
Ge Benyi
Shandong University
May 2004