Research On The Transformation Of Chinese Characters' Word Formation From The Pictophonetic Characters To Associative Characters Since Han And Wei Dynasties

The pictophonetic characters and associative characters are the two main parts of Chinese characters. With the trend of "phonochemistry" in the system of Chinese characters, more and more associative characters are reconstructed into the pictophonetic characters. However since Han and Wei dynasties there have been a large number of associative characters which had been transformed from the corresponding pictophonetic characters. The thesis aims to analyze the phenomenon which widely exists in word-formation of Chinese characters.At first, the author focuses on the ways of generation of ideographic characters which are created after the relevant pictophonetic characters. These associative characters can be divided into six types: over-all creation, substitution of phonetic element, changes in shapes, assimilation, regeneration and classical reconstruction. Then, after analyzing what causes the transformation in word formation of Chinese characters, the author finds out that the main reason is the advantage and disadvantage of the pictophonetic characters and associative characters from the inner character system. Besides, there are other external reasons, such as the thinking of association, people's preference for simplicity, clarity and diversity, and the loose environment of characters usage.In addition, the author also analyzes the relationship between structures and meanings of the associative characters in the following aspects: structural components, the mode of meaning-making, the ideographic ways, and the cultural connotation. The choice of structural components shows ancient people's attention to the nature and human beings themselves. The modes of meaning-making are relatively more diverse than those of ancient times. Furthermore, expression approaches can still get a glimpse of Han nationality's image.Like the associative characters created in ancient times, the form and structure of associative characters created in modern time contains abundant informationAt last, the author introduces the inheritance and the current usage of these associative characters. The majority of these characters are short-lived as weak as flash in the pan. Many disappear without a trace, and only a bare number of them last over times.