On immanent time in characters
2003
TANAKA Akio
This paper attempts to examine the origin and function of Chinese characters, the characters used in Chinese, which have been classified as isolating languages in linguistic typology.
The early forms of Chinese characters can be confirmed by the oracle bone inscriptions found at the Yin Ruins and elsewhere. However, in the first period of the oracle bone inscriptions, which are usually divided into five periods, the inscriptions already showed a preliminary completion, making it difficult to guess the original form of the Chinese characters themselves. The vocabulary and syntax of the combined oracle bone inscriptions also show a preliminary completion. In this case, preliminary completion means that they can be understood or inferred from modern Chinese. Therefore, the creation and function of Chinese characters described here is a secondary matter that occurred after the oracle bone inscriptions. A great deal of research has already been accumulated on the circumstances of the formation of the character shapes of individual oracle bone inscriptions, that is, character-based explanations. Here, we will proceed with our discussion by citing the achievements of these studies, mainly those made since the 1990s.
1. Generation of Kanji (Character)
When one looks at the oracle bone inscription of the Chinese character "育" (iku), there is no doubt that this character indicates the situation of a woman giving birth. In this oracle bone inscription, the situation of childbirth is indicated by three elements. First, it is the posture of a woman with both arms crossed in front of her chest as she gives birth. The woman is leaning forward, her buttocks thrust out, and her knees gently bent. Secondly, the situation of the water breaking during childbirth is indicated by a dotted line-like symbol. Thirdly, a new born baby is shown with its head facing down in the centre or lower part of the water breaking. The three elements illustrated in this oracle bone inscription clearly make it clear that the character "育" indicates the situation of a woman giving birth and the situation immediately afterwards.
When we look at the oracle bone inscription of the Chinese character "言", we can see that the character's shape had already been considerably simplified or transformed in one period, and various interpretations have been developed in the past, but here we present one recent interpretation that includes the results of Chinese archaeology. The shape of the Chinese character "言" can be seen as three parts: the upper part, the middle part, and the lower part. According to the results of Chinese archaeology, the upper part is said to be a bell tongue that was hung inside a bronze bell-like bell during the Shang period, which indicated the holding of a meeting, etc. The middle part of the Chinese character "言" represents the bell tongue itself. The lower part of the Chinese character "言" represents the outside of the bell. During the Shang period, when announcing the holding of a meeting, etc., a bronze bell-like bell was struck to notify the relevant parties, and when the meeting was to be held, the bell was placed upside down on the table. In other words, morphologically, the body of the bell was placed on the bottom and the bell tongue was placed on the top. This is said to have become the shape of the character "言" in the oracle bone inscription. According to this interpretation, the oracle bone inscription of "言" can be said to show the situation after the announcement of the meeting by the bell. Meetings are conducted by words. Therefore, the pictograph of an upside-down bell became the oracle bone inscription of "言".
When one looks at the oracle bone inscription of the Chinese character "渡" (cross), one can see a bow-shaped pattern within two horizontal lines. Wang Guowei had long ago identified this oracle bone inscription with the Chinese character "常" (always). We now follow this view. The two lines above and below represent the two banks of a river, and the central bow represents a boat traveling between the two banks. According to this interpretation, "渡" or "常" (aiways) represents the constant ferry service that is repeated in the same space.
The following can be inferred or derived from the oracle bone inscriptions of the three Chinese characters "iku," "gen," and "wataru."
First, the oracle bone script, which is the original form of Chinese characters, can contain the passage of time. For example, in "育" (nurturing), it is from the start to the end of childbirth, in "言" (saying), it is from the announcement of a meeting to its holding, and in "渡" (crossing), it is the continuation of ferry work.
Secondly, the oracle bone script, which is the original form of Chinese characters, can depict or suggest multiple aspects of various events that occur in the course of an inherent time process. That is, in "iku" (nurturing), the mother's body, the water breaking, and the new born baby, while in "gen" (language), the upside-down bell suggests the ringing of a bell announcing the meeting that took place the previous hour, and the placing of the bell on a table or other surface when the meeting begins. In "wataru" (crossing), the presence of both banks and a ferry boat indicates the ferry work.
Thirdly, oracle bone script, the original form of Chinese characters, can convey multiple pieces of information by incorporating multiple aspects of an event. "育" (nurturing) conveys information such as the mother giving birth, the status during birth, and the birth of a new born baby all at once with a single character. "言" (saying) conveys information such as the announcement of a meeting, the start of a meeting, and the contents of what was discussed at the meeting, while "渡" (crossing) conveys information such as the ferry operation, reaching the opposite shore, and the repetition of a task, in other words, constancy.
Therefore, from the above-mentioned induction and inference regarding the generation of kanji, the following functions of kanji can be derived:
2. Functions of Kanji
First, the time aspects inherent in each Chinese character have a strong tendency to convey the most characteristic information about that aspect. In the case of the character "育" (nurturing), the situation at the time of birth is most characteristic in the mother's birthing movements, but after birth, the presence of the new born becomes characteristic. The diversity of grammatical functions of a single Chinese character stems from the range of time and the content of the characteristic events inherent in these oracle bone inscriptions.
In the case of "iku" (raise), the verb aspect of "umu" is emphasized during the birth phase, but after birth the noun aspect of "new born baby" is emphasized. In the case of "koto" (speech), the aspect of "announce" is emphasized before the meeting, but during and after the meeting the aspect of "what will be said" at the meeting will be emphasized. The "announce" aspect is largely verbal, while in the aspect of "what will be said" the noun function will take precedence.
Secondly, when two or more kanji are combined, each kanji tries to relate to the other kanji by emphasizing one particular time aspect from its inherent time framework. Attempting to convey more than two aspects impairs the clarity of the communication. Looking at the character "育" (raise), in "育女" (raise a female child), it means "to give birth to a baby girl," while in "育嬰" it means "to raise a child who is already born." In "育女" (raise a female child), the character "育" is more related to the "conditions of birth from the mother's womb," while in "育嬰" it is more related to information about the "new born baby who has already been born."
Third, while individual kanji often have multiple inherent temporal aspects, when they are combined, the alternative aspect selection of each individual kanji comes into play, allowing two or more kanji to form a more complex aspect by prioritizing each other's aspects, and thus maintaining the clarity of the information transmitted by the complex aspect. For example, in the combination of the two characters "常言," "常" selects the aspect of "constancy," and "言" selects the aspect of "to speak."
So, what kind of function is at work within each kanji when it selects its own aspect? Also, what kind of function is presented to the outside of the kanji when prioritized aspects are combined?
3. Self-selection of Chinese character functions
I will consider the situation in which two or more Chinese characters are combined to form a new, complex aspect in the case of "Kou-gen." However, in the combination "Gen-kou," it is generally considered that no new aspect is formed, but that two aspects that each Chinese character possesses are consecutively combined. Why does this difference occur? I believe that the inherent temporality of Chinese characters is also involved here.
The time inherent in Chinese characters varies from relatively short periods to long periods. When two periods of time are consecutive, if the first character has a long time and the second character has a short time, the two characters are closely linked and tend to form a new composite aspect, but in the opposite case, that is, if the first character has a short time and the second character has a long time, the two characters are unlikely to form a new composite aspect, and each aspect tends to continue independently.
In "Kou-gen", "Kou" implies "a long, permanent time", while "Gen" implies a short, transitory time. In this way, a long-term-intrinsic kanji followed by a short-term-intrinsic kanji form a new compound phase, but a short-term-intrinsic kanji followed by a long-term-intrinsic kanji does not easily form a compound phase. Therefore, "Kou-gen" is one word, and "Gen-kou" is one sentence made up of two words.
In other words, Chinese, which is considered to be an isolated language in typology, does not have any morphological phenomena, and therefore its grammatical structure, and in particular the breaks between words and their grammatical function, have often been problematic. However, if it is possible to distinguish whether a new compound phase is formed or a succession of individual phases due to the temporality inherent in Chinese characters and the aspect selectivity when they are combined, then this will open up new prospects for vocabulary formation and syntactic structure in Chinese.
The self-selectivity inherent in kanji means that if the time inherent in the following kanji is shorter than its own time, it will try to combine, but if it is longer, it will not combine or will have difficulty combining.
Regarding the length of time, it is necessary to verify the classification of abstractness, concreteness, integration, individuality, etc., shown by the Chinese characters, especially the semi-early forms in the oracle bone script. Therefore, the self-selection of the temporality inherent in Chinese characters is one hypothesis.
4. The meaning inherent in the kanji
In general, the identification of words in language, or the meaning of words, has been pointed out as being difficult, despite its importance. Leaving aside for the moment whether or not a single Chinese character can be identified as a word, it is possible to analytically examine the meaning inherent in each Chinese character to a certain extent, especially by going back to the oracle bone script. In the oracle bone script, progress has been made in elucidating those that can be compared to Shuowenjiezi, but it is likely that there will be further difficulties in elucidating proper nouns that appear only in the Yin dynasty. However, by examining the oracle bone script as a linguistic symbol and the content of that symbol and the time that the symbol indicates, a way will be opened to analyse the grammatical function inherent in characters at a level that goes beyond the comparison with the Chinese characters currently in use. One of the most effective methods for doing so is thought to be the principle of time.
March 28, 2003
at Hakuba, Nagano, Japan
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