The Study Of Substantival Synonym Combination Of Pre-Qin Chinese Language

Substantival synonym combination is a common and significant linguistic phenomenon of ancient Chinese language. It means the coordinate application of two or more words with identical, or similar or analogical meanings, which equals to one word serving as a grammatical component in a sentence conveying a relatively independent meaning. Its origin can trace back as early as the time of oracle bone inscriptions and it has come forth since Zhou and Qin Dynasties and flourished during the pre-Qin periods. Its appearance has had a profound effect on the lexical and semantic system of Chinese language. Moreover, many words used in synonym combination changed to the synonymous compound words and is still in use nowadays. Therefore, the study on the rules of application of these words is helpful to reading and annotating ancient Chinese works as well as to the study on ancient Chinese language and the emergence of coordinate compound words.There are four parts in this thesis.Part one is introduction, the first chapter, pointing out the subject, purpose, methodology and significance of this research and meanwhile giving a definition of substantival synonym combination as well as its value standards.Part two includes chapter two and three, describing the phenomenon of substantival synonym combination in pre-Qin periods from a synchonical and diachonical perspective with ten important pieces of Chinese classics as the research subject, which includes Shang Shu, The Book of Songs, Sun Tzu's Art of War, The Analects of Confucius, Guo Yu, Zuo Zhuan, Zhuang Zi, Mencius, Xun Zi and Han Feizi. Based on chapter two, chapter three explores the characteristics of substantival synonym combination in pre-Qin periods from four aspects: compounding form, semantics, grammar and phonology.Part three discusses the reason and condition of the emergence of substantival synonym combination. The research shows that the emergency of substantival synonym combination has its basis of physics, culture, thinking and psychology. It is the natural result of the tendency of lexical compound as well as the development of exegetical studies in ancient China.Part four is the conclusion of the whole thesis.