The Achievement Of Mr.Yang Shuda's Etymology Research

This thesis sets to study Yang Shuda's scholarship in etymology.Well-informed by previous scholarship and highlighted by distinctiveinnovations, it proves to be unique and influential. His approachingChinese monosyllables from morphological, phonemic and semanticperspectives in search for their etymology and rules of languagedevelopment points to new direction in etymological studies and makeshim an outstanding figure in the field. Research on his scholarshipremains important and significant.Chapter One deals with the theoretic base he develops. According toYang, to search for the etymology of words is just a practical purpose,to compile a new type of dictionaries with etymological illustrationsshould be. the ultimate goal, since the phonemic points the semanticmeaning as in phonograms, and the same source of semantic meaningpoints to the same etymology:Chapter Two takes a look at his methodology. He combinesscientific synthesis and contrastive approaches in his search for the boththe source and the rule. His omniscient survey of phonograms for theiretymology, set against the changing context of the Chinese language,are done not only from the morphologic, phonetic and semantic, butalso from the grammatical and structural perspectives.Chapter Three focuses on his specific scholarship embodied in twobooks, Ji Wei Ju Xiao Xue Jin Shi Lun Cong (A Collection of Studies ofInscriptions), Ji Wei Ju Xiao Xue Shu Lin (A Study of Language).After summarizing his etymological ideas in both studies, it provides alist of those words which he argues with similar etymologic sources,completed by a transcription of its archaic pronunciation and briefstudies.Chapter Four argues certain deficiencies of his study despite its uniqueness.In conclusion, it not only sums up Yang's contribution toetymological studies but also points to directions that may be taken infurther research.