Обитаемый мир в представлении иньцев
The group of prepositions in the archaic language is small.
The most common of them is 于 yú, a word that can rightfully be called a universal preposition.
The preposition 于 yú in combination with the following word can
convey the following meanings:
a) a point in space or time where an action occurs:
田于宋 tián yú sòng "to hunt in Song";
于甲子田 yú jiă zǐ tián "to hunt on Jia Zi Day";
b) a point in space or time—the final destination of an action:
入于商 rù yú shāng "to enter Shang";
c) a person or thing that is the addressee of an action:
告于王 gào yú wáng "to inform the ruler".
In archaic language, there are three types of indirect objects—those with the meaning of time, place, and addressee. The usual position of the indirect object of place and addressee is after the predicate.
If the predicate already has a direct object, the indirect object is placed after it.
A characteristic of indirect objects is that they can appear either without a preposition or with a preposition. However, if an indirect object follows a direct object, a preposition is required:
獲鹿于宋 huò lù yú sòng "to catch deer in Song."
Note that the indirect object can also come before the predicate, but in this case it must also be
formed with a preposition:
告上甲 gào shàng jiă
于上甲告 yú shàng jiă gào } "inform Upper Jia"
In archaic Old Chinese, the object indicating time usually comes before the subject without a preposition, but can also come after it (before the predicate).
In this case, such an addition is necessarily formed by a preposition:
甲子王田 jiă zǐ wáng tián
王于甲子田 wáng yú jiă zǐ tián } "On the day of Jia Zi, Wang hunted"
Based on the above, we can construct several general sentence models in archaic Old Chinese.
Let's denote the predicate as S, the subject as P, the direct object as Dp, the indirect object as Dk, and the indirect object
with the meaning of time of action as Dk (v).
By placing the sentence members in their usual positions, we obtain the following model:
Dk (v) - P - S - Dp - (preposition) Dk
Taking into account the possible position of the object with a tense meaning after the subject, this basic model can be transformed into the following:
P - (preposition) Dk (v) - S - Dp - (preposition) Dk
Finally, another variant of the sentence model is possible:
Dk (v) - P - (preposition) Dk - S - Dp
Thus, we can derive the following rule: any sentence member that can be combined with a preposition can
occupy a position between the subject and the predicate in the prepositional form.
Note that in a negative phrase, such a clause member
is placed after the negation:
辛亥王不于宋獲鹿 xīn hài wáng bù yú sòng huò lù
"On Xin Hai Day, will the wang not catch a deer in Song?"
Unlike 不 bù, the negations 勿 wù and 毋 wú, when combined with a predicate, have an additional modal connotation,
indicating the undesirability of performing the corresponding action.
Compare:
王不田 wáng bù tián "The ruler does not hunt."
王勿田 wáng wù tián "The ruler should not hunt."
王曰勿田 wáng yuē wù tián "The ruler said: "You should not go hunting!""
In this lesson, we encounter a function word used
as a modifier for a noun denoting a date, meaning "future" or "next"—翌 yì.
The notional word 生 shēng "to be born" (here: "coming"—referring to the month) is also used with a similar meaning.
The peculiarities of the ancient Chinese numeral system will be discussed further below. Here, we will only note the fact that in archaic ancient Chinese, cardinal numerals do not have any formal differences from ordinal numerals. For example, the phrase 六月 liù yuè can mean both "six months" and "the sixth month," so its specific meaning can only be determined by context.
In ancient Chinese, there is a group of words that can be called spatial indicators. They denote divisions of space relative to a particular
point: 上 shàng "top"; 下 xià "bottom"; 中 zhōng "middle"; 内 nèi
"inside"; 外 wài "outside", etc. This also includes designations of
cardinal directions: 東 dōng "east"; 西 xī "west"; 南 nán "south";北 běi
"north".
When used as an attribute of a name, the spatial indicator expresses a feature of the thing being determined:
北羌 běi qiāng "northern Qiang" (name of a tribe);
下危 xià wēi "Lower Wei" (geographical name).
If the spatial indicator follows a name, it indicates the direction from a particular point:
河東 hé dōng "east of the river".
The signs of the decimal cycle (甲 jiă, 乙 yǐ, 丙 bǐng, 丁 dīng, 戊
wù, 己 jǐ, 庚 gēng, 辛 xīn, 壬 rèn, 癸 guǐ) are used in archaic Old Chinese not only to denote days,
but also in the names of deceased ancestors. There are several points of view regarding the explanation for this coincidence. According to one theory, the name of a deceased ancestor contains an indication of his or her birthday, according to another, the day of death, etc. In one way or another,
cyclic signs are combined in ancestor names with the following
three categories of words:
a) kinship terms:
父甲 fù jiă "father of Jia";
兄乙 xiōng yǐ "brother of Yi";
b) spatial indicators:
上甲 shàng jiă "Upper Jia";
外壬 wài rèn "Outer Ren";
c) significant words with the meaning of quality:
大庚 dà gēng "Great Geng";
小乙 xiăo yǐ "Small Yi".
When encountering kinship terms in ancient Chinese texts, it is important to keep in mind that many of them do not have full equivalents in English and therefore can only be translated into it conditionally.
A distinctive feature of the ancient Chinese Yin kinship system is that, unlike the English system, it:
Firstly, it clearly distinguishes between the paternal and maternal lines (therefore, in archaic ancient Chinese, for example, there is no term corresponding to the English "uncle" – there, mother's brother and father's brother are designated by separate terms);
Secondly, the ancient Chinese kinship system does not distinguish between direct and collateral lines, as is the case in the English system
(therefore, in particular, a father's brother is designated by the same term
as a father, and a mother's sister is terminologically indistinguishable from
a mother, etc.);
Thirdly, it does not distinguish between relatives separated from
the speaker by more than two generations (therefore, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, etc. are designated by the same term);
Fourth, the Yin kinship system does not distinguish between relatives and in-laws (for example, in a woman's mouth, her father's sister
and her husband's mother are referred to by the same term).
This system of kinship terms reflected the former rule that two clans were linked
by obligatory bilateral marriage. However,
by Yin times, the actual forms of marriage had already changed, although the prohibition on marrying within one's own clan remained.
Like many other sedentary ancient peoples, the Yin people's overall view of the inhabited world is egocentric.
At the center of the ecumene is the capital of the Yin state, 大邑商 dà yì shāng "Great City of Shang."
It is surrounded on all four sides by "lands" divided by
cardinal directions:
北土 běi tǔ "northern lands";
南土 nán tǔ "southern lands";
西土 xī tǔ "western lands";
東土 dōng tǔ "eastern lands".
Outside the circle of lands are hostile tribes.
方 fāngSeveral dozen names of such tribes appear in inscriptions. The Yin rulers most often waged war with the Gong, Qiang, and other tribes.
However, there was no clear boundary between "lands" and "tribes": by recognizing the authority of the wang, a "tribe" became a member of the Yin coalition and was part of the "lands." Conversely,
any territory that initially submitted to the Yin ruler but later seceded from him became a "tribe."