Epitaph Vocabulary Study

The Tang Dynasty epitaphs draw much attention of historiographers and archeologists all the rime. However, linguists just began to deal with them in these days.The Tang Dynasty epitaphs are advantageous for the study of linguistics. There are more than 7,000 squares , on which there carved plenty of epitaphs. Therefore, the lingual material is especially abundant. Unlike words written on cloth, epitaphs were engraved on stones so that they could not be altered and hardly wore away. Such can ensure the facts of the lingual material. And it is reliable to study the epitaphs as the language of the Tang Dynasty for they were really written down at that time.Phrases in the Tang Dynasty epitaphs were studied systematically, based on the entire reading and collation of them. Special sentence patterns were come at through the description of the language characteristic in the Tang Dynasty epitaphs. Oral phrases, Buddhist phrases and peculiar phrases were studied separately. About 300 words that were not included in Han Yu Da Ci Dian were examined and interpreted, which enriches the studies of modem Chinese.Information is the basis of research. Hundreds of errors were picked out from the collection of the Tang Dynasty epitaphs. The words, phrases and sentences were studied carefully. The typical examples of fallibleness were listed out and rectified with the knowledge of philology, lexicology and history. Therefore, the facts of the lingual material was ensured.