| In this paper,the glyphs included in the main edition of"New Oracle Bone Inscriptions（Revised Edition）"and the Zhengzhuan（正篆）included in"Shuo Wen Jie Zi"（说文解字）are used as research materials.The semantic symbols systems of the characters in the two periods are statistically analyzed by using the databases of the"New Oracle Bone Inscriptions（Revised Edition）"and"Shuo Wen Jie Zi",and the semantic symbols are selected after splitting the glyphs.Then perfect the basic information of the two semantic symbols systems,including meaning,unicombination,number of characters formed,characters formed and so on.The same and different semantic symbols are screened out through the databases,and they are compared and analyzed from the perspectives of quantity and meaning category.From the number of semantic symbols,it can be found that: first,the average number of semantic symbols of Seal Script far exceeds that of Oracle Bone Inscriptions;second,the non-composite semantic symbols account for a relatively high proportion in the two semantic symbols systems,but the proportion of the noncomposite semantic symbols in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions is slightly higher than that of Seal Script,and the non-composite semantic symbols in the two systems are concentrated in the structure areas with a large number of characters;third,the distribution of the number of characters in Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Seal Script shows the characteristics of concentration at both ends.From the perspective of meaning category: first,the two semantic symbols systems both contain 13 meaning categories: nature,utensils,human body,behavior,military,architecture,sacrifice,numbers,clothing,nature,traffic,orientation,and food.Metal,identity and abstract name are added to Seal Script;second,the newly added high-frequency semantic symbols,such as 糸、金、言、心、艹 in Seal Script,reflect the development of human cognition and social productivity;third,the synonyms in Oracle Bone Inscriptions belong to the relationship of free alternation,and the synonyms in Seal Script belong to the relationship of free alternation or complementarity;fourth,the Oracle Bone Inscriptions generally uses the glyph meaning when constructing characters.There are a few cases where the glyph meaning and the extended meaning are used together.In the construction of characters,most of the semantic symbols of Seal Script follow the glyph meaning in Oracle Bone Inscriptions,and a few use extended meaning and lexical meaning.The cultural meaning has an impact on the two semantic symbols systems.Oracle bone inscriptions have a number of relatively stable semantic symbols,and the semantic symbol system has been basically complete.In the period of Seal Script,the semantic symbols set the form,and the configuration system has been mature. |
