这确实是一个经典的问题。
王力 (1982: 182) [1] 认为，「小犬爲狗，小熊、小虎爲豿，小馬爲駒，小羊爲羔，四字同源。」殷寄明 (2018: 364-365) [2] 亦持类似观点。
然而，Schuessler (2007) [3] 却不认为这三字间一定存在同源关系：
狗
(kəuᴮ) LH koᴮ, OCM *kôʔ < *klôʔ‘Dog’ [Meng], ‘puppy dog, cub of bear or tiger’ [Erya] (also written with other radicals).
[D] PMin *k̯əuᴮ
[E] Wáng Lì (1982: 182f) believes that the following are variants of this word (doubtful):
(1) jū 駒 (kju) ‘young horse’. (2) hǒu 𤘽 (xəuᴮ) ‘calf’ is a dialectal variant for gǒu , acc. to Guō Pú. (3) gāo 羔 is an ancient NE dialect word for gǒu ‘young of dog, bear, tiger’ which suggest that gāo ‘Iamb’ is the same etymon.
More likely, gǒu is a loan or substrate word from PMY *klu² [purnell] ‘dog’ which in turn is AA: PMon *clur, Mon *klə, WrMon cluiw, kluiw [kløw] (Haudricourt 1966; Norman / Mei 1976: 279-280; Norman 1988: 17), perh. also Bahnar kŏ ‘dog’ (K. Smith LTBA 2.1 [n.d]: 7). For the initials, see §8.2.2. Some Himalayish forms, e.g. TB-Bahing kʼli ‘dog’ ( STC no. 159) may derive from the same root of presumably wide prehistoric distribution.
Acc. to W. Eberhard (1968: 43-50), the dog plays a significant role in Yáo mythology. Customs in the ancient state of Zhèng 鄭 in Hénán (adjacent to the Shāng and Zhōu dynasty heartland) suggest to Eberhard that their inhabitants belonged originally to the Yáo culture (ibid. p. 36).
駒
(kju) LH kɨo, OCM *ko — [T] ONW kuo‘Colt, young horse’ [BI, Shi].
[E] Jū is the same etymon as gǒu 狗 ‘puppy dog’ acc. to Wáng Lì (1982: 182); however, gǒu which comes from a non-ST language, is not a homophone of jū . It is more likely that jū is cognate to PTB *ku(r) or *kor ‘horse’ ( HPTB : 385), in Monpa kur-ta < ku-rta ‘horse’ ( rta <- WT ‘horse’), Tani *kɯ, JP kum-ra < ku-mra[ŋ] ‘horse’ ( mraŋ ‘horse’); Lushai saᴸ-kɔrᴿ ‘a horse, pony’ (but acc. to Lorrain p. 400 this word is derived from kɔrᴿ ‘coat’), Mru kor-ŋa [Löffler 1966: 123]. For the loss of final *-r, see §7.7.5. Alternatively, one may consider jū cognate to qū 驅 *kho ‘to drive’ (a horse), ‘gallop’.
羔
(kâu) LH kɑu, OCM *kâu‘Lamb’ [Shi], gāo has the general meaning ‘small, of an animal’ in an ancient dialect (Wáng Lì 1982: 182f.); it is prob. not related to gǒu 狗 ‘dog’.
以上。
参考
- ^ 王力. 同源字典[M]. 北京: 商务印书馆, 1982: 182.
- ^ 殷寄明. 汉语同源词大典[M]. 上海: 复旦大学出版社, 2018: 364-365.
- ^ SCHUESSLER A. ABC etymological dictionary of Old Chinese[M]. University of Hawaii Press, 2007: 251, 257-258, 322.
