Abstract:
Wang Shengmei, the pioneer researcher of rightward phonetic symbol in Chinese, started the tradition of etymological study in the Song and the Yuan Dynasty. Wang's theory gained further advancement by Zhang Shinan and Wang Guanguo, two later scholars. Furthermore, Zheng Jiao, a scholar in the Song Dynasty, introduced the view of “Mother Producing Children” in the evolution of pictophonetic words. In the late Song and the early Yuan Dynasty, Dao Dong made significant contributions to etymological study. He started with pictophonetic words, combed out the relations between original words and derivative words and grouped numbers of pictophonetic words that shared the phonemes. Dai's other contribution of etymological study was to connect formal and informal words by sounds to seek their relations in sound and meaning. Therefore, a systematic summary of etymological studies in the Song and the Yuan Dynasty is of great importance to such study in modern times.
