"叫化"考源

"叫化"是在佛教文化语境中由"教化"表示说教劝化的意思演化而来.由于"接受供养"是佛教"教化"经常性的伴随事项,有时单说"教化"也包含了"接受供养"的意思,这个意思逐步演变为"教化"在特定语境中的构词义素.这一义素逐步显化、固化,并向主动请求施舍引申,渐渐脱离说教劝化的本义而成为一个新的义项.这一义项最终由佛家用语变为俗家语,在人们的认知中等同于乞讨,才有了"叫化"等字形的出现,并由动词用法延伸到名词:"叫花子"、"花子"成为对乞丐的俗称.

On Origin of the Word Jiaohua's Meaning of Beggar

Jiaohua's meaning of beggar came from Jiaohua,a buddhist term,meaning moralizing.Because the "receiving almsgivings" is often a concomitant with Jiaohua(moralizing) activities,the word Jiaohua,therefore,gradually obtained the meaning of receiving almsgivings in such a cultural background,and,accordingly,such meaning also gradually became into a new semantic component deviating from its original meaning of moralizing.The process of the word meaning evolvement went as: in the beginning,the meaning referred to the activities which involved both moralizing and received almsgivings.Then it could be used to refer to receiving almsgivings alone,but still used as a Buddhist term.Finally it became a popular word meaning cadging that could be done by monks or worldly persons.In Yuan dynasty,the word brought about the noun's function that meant beggar.