Search
Submit an article RU
Slovo.ru: Baltic accent

2025 Vol. 16 №1

Back to the list Download the article
ENG
Сохранить XML для: JATS (вып.)
RUS
Сохранить XML для: JATS (вып.)
Proskurin S.G. Lebedeva D.S.

Hieroglyphic sign weakening mechanisms

DOI
10.5922/2225-5346-2025-1-7
Pages
103-124
semiotic weakening law the Chinese language Chinese character classifica­tion of characters metonymy metaphor

Abstract

This article is the study of the Chinese characters through the semiotic weakening law. The hieroglyphic sign shapes the Chinese linguistic and cultural domain following the unique algorithm to code information. However, the linear principle of the Indo-European semiotics can hardly be applied to the Chinese semiotics with the hieroglyph sign at its heart. This makes the problem of the research obvious, that is to study cognitive processes that underlie the formation of the Chinese characters. The objective of the research is to identify the basic mechanisms of the hieroglyphic signs weakening. This research is based on the works of Charles S. Peirce, Charles W. Morris, Yuri S. Stepanov, Sergey G. Proskurin, Viktor P. Va­si­liev, Lev S. Vygotsky, Xue Jin, Li Feng, and others. The analysis of 214 characters has revea­led the basic mechanisms of weakening. The general scientific methods are as follows: gra­pheme analysis to study the structural components of the hieroglyphic sign, semantic and etymological analysis to trace the evolution of the form and meaning of a character. The re­search has revealed the following weakening mechanisms: simplification, complication, prese­rvation. These changes in form trigger semantic variations based on metaphoric and meto­nymic shifts. To study the mechanisms of sign formation is of significance because it enables us to solve the problems in intercultural communication. The investigation of the cognitive processes that underlie the formation of the hieroglyphic code allows us to get a deeper insight into how the native speakers of the Chinese language categorize reality.

Reference

Eco, U., 2006. Otsutstvuyushchaya struktura: vvedenie v semiologiyu [Missing Struc­ture: An Introduction to Semiology]. Translated by V. Reznik and A. Pogonyailo. St. Petersburg (in Russ.).

Feng, L., 2023. Research on the Formation of Chinese Characters. Journal of Neuro and Spine, 1 (1), pp. 1—15, https://doi.org/10.33140/JNS.

Gotlib, O. M., 2020. Osnovy grammatologii kitaiskoi pis'mennosti [Fundamentals of the Grammatology of Chinese writing system]. Moscow (in Russ.).

Jin, X., 2021. New Interpretation of Western Semiotics from the Perspective of Symbolic Concepts in Zhouyi. Language and Semiotic Studies, 7 (1), pp. 57—78, https://doi.org/10.1515/lass-2021-070103.

Kleyman, B. M., 2015. The role of a word in semiotic weakening in biblical texts. Vestnik Chelyabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Filologiya. Iskusstvovedeniye [Bulletin of Chelyabinsk State University. Philology. Arts], 95 (10), pp. 96—100 (in Russ.).

Komkova, A. S., 2017. Fenomen semioticheskogo oslableniya v anglosaksonskoi ling­vo­kul'ture VII—XI vv. [Semiotic weakening phenomenon in the Anglo-Saxon linguo-cultural tradition]. Novosibirsk (in Russ.).

Krushevsky, N. V., 1883. Ocherki nauki o yazyke [Essay on the Science of Lan­guage]. Kazan (in Russ.).

Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M., 2004. Metafory, kotorymi my zhivem [Metaphors We Live By]. Translated by A. N. Baranov and A. V. Morozova. Moscow (in Russ.).

Lewis, D., 1983. General semantics. In: Yu. S., Stepanov, ed. Semiotika [Semiotics]. Translated by V. Z. Demyankov. Moscow, pp. 253—285 (in Russ).

Liu, Y., 2001. 说文解字 [Shuowen jiezi]. In: 柴剑虹、李肇翔， ed. 字典的先河 ——《说文解字》 [The first dictionary — “Shuowen Jiezi”]. Bejing, pp. 887—900 (in Chinese).

Moret, A., 2009. Egipetskie misterii [Mystères égyptiens]. Translated by S. V. Ar­khipova. Moscow (in Russ.).

Morris, Ch., 1946. Signs, Language and Behavior. New York.

Perelomov, L. S., 2001. Konfutsii: «Lun' Yui» [Confucious: “Lun Yu”]. Moscow (in Russ.).

Petrov, A. A., 1936. Van Bi (226—249). Iz istorii kitaiskoi filosofii [Wang Bi (226—249). From the history of Chinese philosophy]. Moscow; Leningrad (in Russ.).

Proskurin, S. G., 2023. Semiotika. Yazyk, kul'tura, pravo : uchebnoe posobie [Semio­tics. Language, culture, law: textbook]. St. Petersburg (in Russ.).

Proskurin, S. G., ed., 2015. Kul'turnye transfery: problemy kodov [Cultural transfers: the problem of codes]. Novosibirsk (in Russ.).

Runova, N. V., 2007. Kognitivnye osnovy obrazovaniya novykh metonimicheskikh znachenii sushchestvitel'nykh (na materiale angliiskogo yazyka) [Cognitive foundations of the formation of new metonymic meanings of nouns (based on the material of the English language)]. PhD thesis. Moscow (in Russ.).

Saussure, F. de, 1977. Course in General Linguistics. In: A. A. Kholodovich, ed. Trudy po yazykoznaniyu [Scientific works on linguistics]. Translated by A. M. Su­khotin. Moscow, pp. 31—274 (in Russ.).

Stepanov, Yu. S. and Proskurin, S. G., 1993. Konstanty mirovoi kul'tury. Alfavity i alfavitnye teksty v periody dvoeveriya [Constants of world culture. Alphabets and al­phabetic texts in the periods of the Dual Faith]. Moscow (in Russ.).

Stepanov, Yu. S., 2004. Konstanty: slovar' russkoi kul'tury [Constants: dictionary of Russian Culture]. Moscow (in Russ.).

Vasil'ev, V. P., 1898. Analiz kitaiskikh ieroglifov. Ch. 1. [The analysis of Chinese characters. Part I]. St. Petersburg (in Russ.).

Vygotsky, L. S., 2023. Istoriya razvitiya vysshikh psikhicheskikh funktsii [The history of development of higher psychological processes]. Moscow (In Russ.)

Wang, M., Cai, Y., Gao, L., et al., 2022. Study on the evolution of Chinese charac­ters based on few-shot learning: From oracle bone inscriptions to regular script. PLoS ONE, 17 (8), pp. 1—17, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0272974.

Zhang, L., 2024. On the Chinese resistance to lexical borrowing: a writing-driven self-purification system. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11 (33), pp. 1—9, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02556-3.