英文摘要 |
The purpose In Cantonese, the character “tam 氹” [thɐm5] is often used to describe “enticing or deceiving someone for personal gain.” There have been various opinions about the etymological character of the verb [thɐm5], meaning {deceive}, in Cantonese. This paper first introduces the phonological system of Cantonese. After that, it organizes the usage, historical background, and meaning of the character “tam 氹,” pointing out that the character was already a vulgar form in Cantonese during the Qing Dynasty. However, when “tam 氹” is used to express “enticing or deceiving someone for personal gain,” it is actually borrowed from a similar-sounding character, and “tam 氹” is not the etymological character. Next, this paper attempts to organize the meaning of the etymological character for the verb meaning {deceive}, and points out that it can be divided into four categories: “enticing,” “cheating,” “persuading,” and “amusing.” The paper also organizes the records of the verb meaning {deceive} in dictionaries of Chinese dialects, finding that they all only record the Cantonese pronunciation [thɐm5] and do not document the usage of this character in other Chinese dialects or other pronunciations. Subsequently, the paper analyzes several possible etymological characters for the verb meaning {deceive} proposed by previous researchers – “daam 啖,” “daam 啗,” “tam𧨾,” “taam 撢,” and “tam䐺” – and points out that none of these characters are the etymological character for the verb meaning {deceive}. Finally, based on Chinese Phonology and the usage of the character “tim 餂” in ancient Chinese texts, this paper attempts to propose that the etymological character for the verb meaning {deceive} should be “tim 餂.” |