假借 (jiǎ jiè) — to borrow a character phonetically; to use a character for its homophonous value; to make phonetic loan use of a character

Definition

假借 (jiǎjiè) is a technical term in Chinese paleography for the 'phonetic loan' principle, where a character is borrowed purely for its sound to write a word it originally had nothing to do with — unlike normal borrowing, no semantic link is involved.

verb
to borrow a character phoneticallyto use a character for its homophonous valueto make phonetic loan use of a character

Examples

  • 假借。
    Gǔ rén cháng jiǎ jiè tóng yīn zì lái biǎo shì chōu xiàng gài niàn.
    Ancient people often borrowed homophonous characters to express abstract concepts.
  • ，假借。
    Zhè ge zì běn yì shì yì zhǒng wǔ qì, hòu lái bèi jiǎ jiè wèi rén chēng dài cí.
    This character originally meant a type of weapon; later it was borrowed as a personal pronoun.
  • 假借。
    Yán jiū jiǎ gǔ wén de xué zhě jīng cháng tǎo lùn jiǎ jiè zào zì fǎ.
    Scholars who study oracle bone inscriptions often discuss the phonetic loan method of character creation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

假jiǎborrow
借jièborrow

假 and 借 both mean 'borrow', so together they name borrowing a character for its sound.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
叚
叚jiǎ假jiǎ
Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

Open 假 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
昔
昔xī借jiè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

借 combines 人, a person, with 昔, which shows the sound.

Open 借 →

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