The Original Character of tan3 in Southern Min (閩南語 tan3（投擲；丟棄）本字考)

Abstract

In this paper, we find the original character of ‘tan3’ which means throwing or casting off in Southern Min. In the first section, we review the ways of the traditional writing characters in Southern Min and then we put forward our argument. In section 2, we list the possible cognates in Leizhou Min, Hakka, Cantonese, Xiang, Gan, Wu, Jin and Chinese Mandarin. We explain the reason from the aspect of sound correspondence and sound change for the above possible cognates and find the meaning ‘hit’ of it. In section 3, we present a detailed analysis of the potential original character and cite a lot of example sentences as evidences. Then we prove that the potential original character has the meaning ‘hit’ by the study on the word family of it. In section 4, we find that the original character of ‘tiŋ3’ in Southern Min which means hitting is the same as the original character of ‘tan3’. We also list some other characters which have the meaning ‘throw’ in Southern Min in order to prove the argument. In the last section, we rethink the reasons why we can find the original character of ‘tan3’ in Southern Min.本文考出閩南語中表達「投擲；丟棄」之義的tan3的本字為「打」。本文在第1節中首先回顧了閩南語tan3的常見寫法並逐一討論，再提出本文論點；在第2節中列出其在閩南雷州方言、客方言、粵方言、湘方言、贛方言、吳方言、晉方言、官話中可能的同源詞，一方面證明「釘」字與該詞素音讀吻合、而「打」字僅存在聲調上的差異，另一方面發現這一可能的同源詞在方言間除「投擲」義外另有「擊打」義；在第3節中首先回顧「丁」詞族的「釘」「打」二字在古文獻中的用法，從中發現「打」字表示「擊打」「擲擊」義的例證，進而釐清「打」字「擊打——擲擊——投擲」的語義發展脈絡，以此證明論點；在第4節中敘述「釘」字在閩南語中的用法，分析並證明「孤對tiŋ3」「tiŋ3孤枝」兩詞中tiŋ3的本字亦為「打」，此外還通過閩南語中其它表示「投擲」之義的語詞「掔」「揕」「㧒」等輔助論證；在第5節中提出一些反思。