19. Noun Phrases in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions

Abstract

While nouns and noun phrases are only one aspect of the Shang language, they are an important constituent element which, together with a verb in a sentence, occur as topic, subject, direct or indirect object, or object of a particle. In order to have a better understanding of the inscriptional language as a whole, a good understanding of the noun phrases is desirable.

This paper undertakes to present a systematic account of noun phrases in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions. The examples are taken from an entire corpus of inscriptions from Period I to Period V, paying no particular attention to diachronic developments. Some diachronic descriptions -- changes over time in construction and meaning -- are also cited in notes whenever they are considered relevant.

The main concern of the paper is two-fold: noun-phrase formations and elucidation of their intended meanings. A number of new interpretations, particularly of nouns, is presented in the “Notes” which are integral to the descriptions. The paper also, necessarily, pays close attention to the use of such conjunctive particles as you, ta, and yu.