On Semantic Supplementation in Naxi Dongba Script
Mo Jun examines 'semantic supplementation' (yibu), a device pervasive in the Dongba scriptures whereby meaning not fully captured by the written characters is hinted at, added, or emphasized through the deformation, combination, or spatial arrangement of glyphs. After reviewing prior scholarship (Qiu Xigui, Fu Maoji, Wang Yuanlu, Yu Suisheng, Deng Zhangying, Huang Sixian, Li Jing, Bai Xiaoli), the article classifies supplementation by semantic category (orientation, action, quality, quantity, negation, possession, coordination, and multiple supplementation at once), by scope (meaning supplied within the text versus contextual meaning drawn from Naxi culture at large), by mode (with or without an accompanying character, the latter a transitional stage toward phono-semantic compounds), and by form (character grouping -- separated, joined, interlaced, inclusive -- versus character ordering). It closes with five explanatory factors: immature recording capacity, the script's prompting function for oral recitation, scriptural conservatism, secrecy among transmission lineages, and the cost of handmade paper.
This page publishes the bibliographic record and the project's summary. The scanned article text belongs to its publisher and is shown to readers under a research-use policy; it is not reproduced in this record.