對“來日”一語的漢語史和文學史考察

“來日”是古代文獻語言中常見的表示時間的詞語。上世紀中葉以來，學術界對“來日”的解釋出現了兩個重要的變化：一是在語言學方面，發現了“來日”有表示未然時間和已然時間兩個相反的義項；二是在文學史方面，對與“來日”相關的一些文學作品有了新的解釋。文章利用電子文獻資料庫對古代文獻中的“來日”用例作了窮盡性的考察，從漢語史和文學史兩個角度，證明這些幾乎已成定論的新說並不成立。同時發現在古代文獻裡，其實有兩個來源和意義都不同的“來日”——表示未然時間的“來日A”和表示已然時間的“來日B”。前者是詞，後者是短語，是“來［此地］之日”的雙音節形式。“來日”之新說所以產生，源於對“來日B”的誤解。文章分析了致誤的過程，詳細論證了“來日B”的存在和性質，揭示了含有這個詞語的文學作品的確切意義。
"Lairi (來日)" is a temporal expression used very frequently in ancient Chinese literature. From the mid-20th century linguists have come to claim that the word "lairi" has two opposite meanings expressing both past time and time to come. This view has also been accepted by scholars of ancient Chinese literature and compiled into dictionaries. Based on exhausted investigation of the electronic corpora of ancient Chinese literature and documents, this paper argues that this subsequent explanation of "lairi" is not correct. The word "lairi" stands actually for two different expressions: one is a word expressing upcoming time and the other a phrase referring to the day of coming here. The confusion of these two forms in the literature leads to the misinterpretation of "lairi". Copyright © 2013《語言科學》編輯部.