Cinq étymologies chinoises - article ; n°1 ; vol.23, pg 299-308

Laurent Sagart

Description

Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale - Année 1994 - Volume 23 - Numéro 1 - Pages 299-308
Etymologies of four Chinese words, and an explanation of the graphic shape of the character writing a fifth word are presented It is proposed that 'eye', 'the lung cavities' and 'filial piety' are r-infixed derivatives of 'protuberance', 'hollow' and 'to love'. It is also proposed that the word 'poison' was derived euphemistically from an Old Chinese word stem meaning 'to nourish'. Finally, it is suggested that the human figure in the character 'woman' is kneeling because of the narrow skirts perhaps worn by women at the time the character was invented.
10 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Sujets

• dictionnaire
• cours
• adjectifs
• les adjectifs

Informations

• Publié par: CAHIERS_DE_LINGUISTIQUE_-_ASIE_ORIENTALE
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1994
• Nombre de lectures: 164
• Langue: Français

Extrait

Laurent Sagart

Cinq étymologies chinoises

In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 23 n°1, 1994. pp. 299-308.

Abstract

Etymologies of four Chinese words, and an explanation of the graphic shape of the character writing a fifth word are presented It

is proposed that 'eye', 'the lung cavities' and 'filial piety' are r-infixed derivatives of 'protuberance', 'hollow' and 'to love'. It is also

proposed that the word 'poison' was derived euphemistically from an Old Chinese word stem meaning 'to nourish'. Finally, it is

suggested that the human figure in the character 'woman' is kneeling because of the narrow skirts perhaps worn by women at

the time the character was invented.

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Sagart Laurent. Cinq étymologies chinoises. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 23 n°1, 1994. pp. 299-308.

doi : 10.3406/clao.1994.1788

http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/clao_0153-3320_1994_num_23_1_1788

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