“幺蛾子”探源  

An etymological note on the word 幺蛾子 (yao'ezi) in Mandarin

作　　者：薛克谬[1] 刘晓颖[1] 

机构地区：[1]河北大学人文学院,保定071002

出　　处：《方言》2003年第1期93-96,共4页Dialect

摘　　要：《现代汉语词典》收有“幺蛾子”一词,而在各种方言词典中,它的词形多变,譬如可以写作:幺鹅子,幺娥子,幺娥儿,幺蛾儿等。据以上情况来看,显然“幺蛾子”及其各种变化的词形用字都包含着一些记音字。因此,有必要搞清它的本源,弄清它的原义由来及其本字。本文据各种语言材料,考证出“幺”是“夭”的通假字,“蛾、鹅、娥”等是“俄”的通假字,“子”或“儿”是名词性的词缀。其本义为“倾侧的”,也就是“不正的”,如同我们今天常说的“歪门邪道”。The entry 幺蛾子 (yao'ezi ) in The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary has various forms in different dialectal dictionaries, e.g. 幺鹅子, 幺蛾子, 幺娥儿, 幺蛾儿. So it is obvious that 幺蛾子 and its variant forms share the same pronunciation. It is necessary to make clear of its semantic origin and its original character. The present paper puts forward a viewpoint that 幺 (yao) is a borrowing word of 夭 whereas 鹅, 娥 and 蛾 are borrowing words of 俄, with 子 and 儿 being the noun suffixes. Its original meaning is 'inclining', or in other words, 'not straight or just', just as in today's idiom 歪门邪道 (dishonest practices) .

关 键 词：“幺蛾子” 通假字 汉语 词汇 

分 类 号：H139[语言文字—汉语]