The Study On Vocabulary In Epitaph Of Northern Wei Dynasty

Northern and Southern Dynasties is an important period of Middle Chinese, but the cultural activities of this period was damaged because of frequent war. As a result, the authentic language materials of this period are very lack and the north is more serious. The past research of Middle Chinese vocabulary mainly focus on limited works such as Shishuo Xinyu, Houhan Shu, and then medical books, agricultural books, Taoist school and Buddha’s books. But the epitaph material have been neglected all the time. Taking the epitaph of the Northern Wei Dynasty as the object of study, combining with the literature handed down, and using the theory of lexicology and dictionary and other related knowledge, this paper attempts to summarize the characteristic words of them, so we can learn more about ancient people’s cultural psychology. In addition, this paper will supplement to the lemma, semantic item and examples of Hanyu Da Cidian, and this will contribute to its further revision and perfection.There are four parts in this paper.The preface part mainly introduces an overview of the epitaph. The epitaph of Northern Wei Dynasty has the features of quantity, authenticity and synchronization at the same time. Discussing the significance of the vocabulary and analyzing the research status, then we introduce the methods of the research such as twice evidences, diachronic, synchronic and inductive.The second part mainly describes the characteristics of four groups of words in Epigraphs of Northern Wei Dynasty including age, book, offspring and tomb. Each type will be listed in article and made explanations.The third part mainly discusses on the epitaph of the Northern Wei Dynasties’ supplements to the lemma, semantic item and examples of Hanyu Da Cidian. The Epigraphs of Northern Wei Dynasty can support not only the literature handed down from ancient times, the more important is that it itself is a treasure house of language. Combining with epitaphs and the literature handed down, and using the theory of lexicology and dictionary and other related knowledge, they can supplement to the lemma, semantic item and examples of Hanyu Da Cidian.The fourth part mainly is the summary of the characteristics of words in epigraphs of Northern Wei Dynasty.