MOTIVATION OF THE CHINESE CHARACTERS WITH OBJECT SEMANTICS

Abstract

Motivational features that determine the choice of the main semantic component of complex Chinese characters with object semantics are established and described in this article. The analysis of the determinatives that are included in multicomponent characters of various semantic types (nominations of clothing, transport, furniture, weapons, containers, etc.) made it possible to reveal their frequency regarding of different thematic relevance. The material of the study based on the group of compound characters (structurally including from two graphemes in a sign, one of which is a determinative), denoting object names selected according to the principles of classification of lexical units, undertaken when compiling the semantic dictionary ed. N. Yu. Shvedova, dissertation research by M. I. Oleinik, as well as the described classes of object nouns (物品类名词) in the study of Zhang Daoxin, Zhang Jiahua. The total volume of the analyzed characters with object semantics amounted to 967 units. The analysis of the selected signs showed that the choice of the determinative of the complex Chinese character with object semantics is based on the relevance of the material as the most significant historically or functionally characteristic of the described representation of objects that are spatially limited, can be identified and counted. The evolution and development of the basic graphemes of Chinese writing determine, at the same time, the relevance of such motivational features as category, form and object, as well as their different frequency within different semantic groups of complex signs with object semantics.