漢字、文讀與構詞層次──廈門話和汕頭話比較的啟示

The interfaces between Chinese characters, literary readings and morphological strata: The cases of Xiàmén Mǐn and Shàntóu Mǐn

本文以廈門話及汕頭話兩種閩南語涉及文讀形式的複合詞為例，試圖說明幾個和方言構詞層次有關的問題：（1）構詞層次到底是怎麼樣形成的？（2）漢字在文讀層形成的過程中擔當什麼角色？（3）由文讀形式組成的複合詞和一般借詞有什麼不同？文章指出：漢字儘管不是漢語的基本結構單位，但由於大抵等同於語素，因此在構詞上的作用特別明顯。在方言中，文讀層正是以漢字作為單位，從共通語傳入的。文讀形式大多是黏著語素，不能單說，但只要能組成複合詞，就有機會存活下來。雖然文讀形式和借詞一樣都是外來的形式，但本質上有許多相異的地方。筆者把那些仿照共通語造出來的複合詞視為「詞形借詞」。閩南語的異讀豐富，一個字往往有兩、三個讀法，容易「仿製」出由不同層次組成的複合詞，如寫出來同樣是「飛機」，第一個成分廈門話唸[hui1]（文讀），汕頭話則唸[pue1]（白讀），就是在這種背景下形成的。 This paper considers morphological stratification of Chinese dialects through examining compound words in Southern Mǐn (‘SM') literary readings. More specifically, it addresses questions pertaining to the Xiàmén and Shàntóu varieties of SM including (1) the formation of morphological strata; (2) the role of Chinese characters in the formation of literary strata; and (3) the distinction between compound words made up of literary forms and loanwords. We argue that a character in Chinese is not merely a written unit. It is the equivalent of a morpheme. In the two varieties of SM examined, the literary strata represent layers of character readings resulted from contact with Standard Chinese. While most literary readings have been phased out due to the decline of interests in reading the classics, a small number of them have survived and became part of compound words functioning as morphemes. Today, a substantial number of Standard Chinese words such as 丈夫 ‘husband' and 飛機 ‘plane' can be found replicated in SM, thanks to Chinese characters. Whether these words were made up of two literary forms or one literary form plus one colloquial form is not always consistent throughout the two dialects. Compound words with literary elements are classified as ‘graphic loans', similar to those imported from Japan in the last century.