“教”与“学”的形义关系演变探究

Research on the Evolvement of the Semantic Relationship between “Teaching” and “Learning”

摘要: 在中国古代的传统教育里，“學”与“教”是各大辞书中常出现的两个古文字，本文通过它们的历史演变过程来探析“教”与“学”形义关系的发展变化。甲骨文“教”与“學”属于一族同源字存在混用现象；金文时期二字已有区分现象；至隶书时期其形义已完成分化；最后阐释汉字隶变和汉字简化两次重要变革对汉字形义关系的影响。

Abstract: In the context of traditional Chinese education, “xue” (learn) and “jiao” (teach) are two ancient characters that frequently appear in major dictionaries. This article delves into the historical evolution of these characters to analyze the development and changes in the semantic relationship between “jiao” and “xue”. The author's examination reveals that in Oracle Bone Script, “jiao” and “xue” were part of a group of cognate words with instances of interchangeability. Differentiation between the two characters began during the Bronze Script period, with their forms and meanings completing differentiation by the time of Seal Script. Finally, this article elucidates on how two significant transformations in Chinese character development—namely, from Seal Script to Clerical Script and simplification of Chinese characters—have impacted the semantic relationship between these characters.