≪红楼梦≫中同词根“子”尾词与“儿”尾词分析

Abstract

This paper investigates all the words that have the same etyma yet different suffixes ‘Zi’ and ‘Er’ in “A dream of Red Mansions”. First, all these counterparts are picked out and divided into three categories, i.e., analogous, partially different, and entirely different. Then, a number of representative literatures are referred so as to analyze and compare the emergence and development of suffixes ‘Zi’ and ‘Er’. Our research proves that the suffix ‘Zi’ appeared earlier than the suffix ‘Er’. While ‘Zi’ developed a rich variety of usages, ‘Er’ emerged soon afterwards and gradually outnumbered ‘Zi’ in terms of word combination. Although ‘Er’ bears higher flexibility when served as a rhythm syllable, over time the two suffixes each developed unique meanings and it turned out that neither of the two has completely replaced the other. Our future plan is to investigate the historical interaction between suffixes ‘Zi’ and ‘Er’.